United States Foreign Policy

As political tensions ease somewhat between Moscow and Washington, the business world hopes to benefit from this warming of relations through increased trade. One sign of the benefits to come came last summer, when the U.S. Commerce Department lifted export restrictions on a broad range of desktop personal computers and cleared the way for their export to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

George Bush's road to the White House in 1988 was paved by the spectacular political success of Ronald Reagan. Not only did Reagan win two presidential elections in landslide style, but his conservative thrust transformed the debate over public policy.

Whenever former President Ronald Reagan accused Congress of tinkering too much with national security policy, his antagonists on Capitol Hill always had a ready answer: They were forced to do it because the President never consulted them.

On the eve of a European mission that faces discord around the conference table and in the streets, President Bush on Tuesday offered his broadest assessment of the United States' global role and set a mandate for fighting poverty by promoting trade.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, batting down expectations raised by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, said Sunday that the Bush administration has not set a deadline for completing its policy for combating global warming.

A Pentagon inquiry into the Oct. 12 suicide bombing of the destroyer Cole will emphasize that the U.S. is engaged in a long-term conflict with international terrorists and that the military constantly must be prepared to come under attack, a Pentagon official said.