spending had a significant negative netnimpact on the economy.” Those whoncite only Japan as an example of ancountry exhibiting lower defense spendingnwith higher economic growth asncompared to the United States overtooknthe counterexamples of South Korean(higher defense spending, higherngrowth) and Western Europe (lowerndefense spending, lower growth). Whatnis more, “the reduced role of ideologyn[in the world] does not mean the end ofngreat power politics, nor does it allownstates to be indifferent to the militarynbalance of power.”nThe United States enjoys strong positionsnacross the board, whereas itsnrivals are afflicted by areas of weakness.nThe Soviets suffer from a disastrousneconomy, restive minorities, and a discreditednideology. Western Europenlacks political cohesion and is burdenednby expensive welfare systems. Japannlacks natural resources, has no militarynpower, and is overly dependent on tradenfor its economic health. Rivals cannmount challenges in selected areas, butnif the United States plays to its strengths,nit can prevail. The key word in thatnsentence is “if”n”America is rich but acts poor,” saysnNye. American politics “stresses thenoptimism and innocence of an isolatednliberal culture which successively encountersnand withdraws from a harshnoutside reality,” while its government isnhobbled by “the eighteenth centurynliberal view that power is best controllednnot by centralization and socializationnbut by fragmentation.” America hasnlong been ineffective in converting itsnassets into power. Nye believes the PaxnAmericana to have been a myth, citingnHerbert Tilema’s list of 149 incidentsnbetween 1945 and 1972 that mightnhave reasonably provoked U.S. interventionnbut didn’t; they run from suchnmajor events as the fall of China andnCuba to violence in Cyprus and thenCongo. Ninety-six of them involvedncommunist activity. And in those,instancesnwhen the United States didnintervene, it often failed, as in Vietnam.nWashington, Nye concludes, didnnot win the Cold War in the field;nMoscow lost it at home.nIn the future, events will be morendifficult to manage. Transnational issuesn(ecology, drugs, terrorism) willnrequire more cunning diplomacy and anmore deft manipulation of internationÂÂn40/CHRONICLESnal organizations (or their replacement,nif they are controlled by hostile forces).nEconomic leverage will be more important,nNye says; and here he is beingncontradictory. He supports in principlen”an open international economy” butnI his practical examples support neomercantilistnpolicies to maintain America’snshare of world production, to advancentechnology, and to avoid becomingnvulnerable to trade and financialnshocks.nThe title of Nye’s book is seennfinally to be overly optimistic. Americancan lead, and for the sake of worldnorder as well as its own survival it mustnlead; but it remains an open politicalnquestion whether it is “bound to lead.”nWilliam R. Hawkins writes fromnKnoxville, Tennessee.nExecutivenPoppycocknby Michael LindnEthics, Politics, and thenIndependent Counsel: ExecutivenPower, Executive Vice 1789-1989nby Terry EastlandnWashington, D.C.: National LegalnCenter for the Public Interest;n187 pp., $10.95nTerry Eastland, formerly of thenReagan Justice Department, hasnwritten a learned book explaining that,naccording to the Constitution, embarrassingncrimes in an administration cannonly be investigated by prosecutors on anleash held by the President whom thosencrimes embarrass. Eastland’s target isnTitle VI of the Ethics in CovernmentnAct of 1978, which provides for courtappointednindependent counsels (specialnprosecutors) to investigate allegationsnof wrongdoing by high-rankingnexecutive officers. In the eleven yearsnsince the act was passed, there havenbeen at least nine investigations, includingnthose of former Attorney GeneralnEdwin Meese III, Lieutenant ColonelnOliver North, and former National SecuritynAdvisor John Poindexter. Thenstatute, which limits the power of thenattorney general to remove an independentncounsel, originated after the “SaturdaynNight Massacre” of 1973, whennnnSolicitor General and Acting AttomeynGeneral Robert Bork fired Watergatenspecial prosecutor Archibald’ Cox, whonhad presumed to request Nixon’snWhite House tapes. (Bork’s superiors.nAttorney General Elliot Richardsonnand Deputy Attorney General WilliamnRuckelshaus, had resigned rather thannaid Nixon in suppressing the investigationnby firing Cox.)nThe independent counsel law appliesnonly to members of the executivenbranch. Eastland sensibly suggests that itnbe amended, so that independent counselsncan investigate wrongdoing in Congressnand the judiciary as well. Eastlandnargues, with some justification, that liberalnDemocrats in Congress have usednthe independent counsel law to harassnexecutive officers of whose policies theyndisapprove.nEastland’s other practical argumentsnagainst the statute are less persuasive.nSince 1979, the total cost of all independentncounsel investigations has beennonly $20 million. In the past severalnyears alone the Reagan and Bush administrationsnhave reportedly spent $40nmillion to catch D.C. Mayor MarionnBarry smoking crack with his girlfriend,na,police stooge. While the Reagan administrationnburned mountains of taxndollars to catch Barry, “Silent Sam”nPierce, the former secretary of HUD,nreportedly gave away up to $8 billionnworth of contracts and other favors tonRepublican contractors and allies. ThenPierce scandal makes any suggestionnthat an administration can be countednon to police its own look rather dubious.nEastland also attacks independentncounsels because, after lengthy initialninvestigations, they sometimes decidennot to press charges. “Expect as a resultnof an investigation — even one thatndoes not result in indictment — somendamage to your reputation, more thannwould have occurred under normalncircumstances.” Therefore therenshould be no independent counsels.nBecause innocent people are sometimesnfalsely suspected, should no onenbe prosecuted for murder? “Ordinaryncitizens do not experience this kind ofninvestigation.” Eastland does not believenthat high-ranking executivenbranch officials should be held to highernstandards than the taxpayers whonpay their salaries. It is difficult fornAmericans outside of the Beltway,n
January 1975July 26, 2022By The Archive
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