Word: haig
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...Haig's aggressive style is alien to the laid-back Californians at the White House, who feel that the Secretary's well-publicized turf battles with colleagues were as avoidable as they were embarrassing. The volatile former NATO commander still has a tendency to erupt at slights, but he appears more secure than he did a few months ago, possibly because he enjoys more frequent access to the President...
...four-star drive to become what he called "the vicar of American foreign policy," Secretary of State Alexander Haig has endured a dizzying eleven-month roller-coaster ride. Yet after all his ups and downs, Haig, 57, seems to have achieved what he wanted. Foreign policy is now coordinated not by the emasculated National Security Council but by interagency groups chaired by the State Department...
Critics charge that Haig has proved better at administering policy than at conceptualizing the broader outlines of American goals; neither he nor his close aides are known as idea men. His comments often seem contradictory, and on such subjects as Soviet-sponsored terrorism his rhetoric has been excessive. Nonetheless, Haig has brought a realistic approach to the management of policy, often restraining the hard-line ideologues at the Pentagon. For example, he was able to overcome Defense Department objections to resuming talks with the Soviets on reducing nuclear weapons in Europe. (Once the talks were approved, however, the specific proposals...
...Haig has also led the Administration, and himself, through a series of mid-course corrections in what originally seemed to be an oversimplified East-West view of the world. Although the U.S. has yet to develop a comprehensive Middle East policy, the early emphasis on forging a strategic anti-Soviet consensus in the region has been balanced by giving more attention to resolving the Palestinian question. Latin-American policy has long been dominated by concern over El Salvador, which Washington charged was being threatened by leftist rebels whose support came from Cuba and Nicaragua. In a meeting with Nicaragua...
Weinberger's hawkish statements on foreign policy issues have often been poorly planned and counterproductive. In Bonn last April, Weinberger denigrated the benefits of detente and called for a buildup of NATO's conventional and nuclear forces; Haig had to reassure allies that the U.S. was still committed to pursuing arms control negotiations with the Soviets as well as upgrading the Western deterrent. Haig also had to rein in Weinberger when he announced, without consulting NATO leaders, that the Administration was planning to produce neutron warheads for eventual deployment in Europe. Haig promised the allies there would...