FACES AND PLACES: Ethnics advise Bill Clinton (01/03/93)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Ethnics advise Bill Clinton

"Who am I? Why am I here?"

Remember those immortal lines of Admiral James Stockdale, Ross Perot's running mate, during the vice-presidential debates?

I was reminded of those words when I, a life-long Republican, was in Little Rock recently by invitation of President-elect Bill Clinton's transition team. I was part of what was billed the "East European Round Table."

Other Ukrainians participating included Adrian Slywotsky, Bohdan Watral, Askold Lozynskyj and Julian Kulas.

There were also Americans of Armenian, Croatian, Estonian, German, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Serbian and Slovenian descent.

Chairing the round table was Christopher Hyland, the man who engineered the Clinton ethnic outreach program during the campaign and who helped bring so many Reagan Democrats home.

Mr. Hyland opened the discussion by thanking everyone for being there and assuring us that President-elect Clinton was truly interested in our views on the situation in Eastern Europe. Referring to the Communist enslavement of the past, he said: "You kept the faith for decades. Now it is your turn to be heard. Your advice is important to Mr. Clinton."

Many complaints regarding American foreign policy under George Bush were voiced during the next three hours. In summary, they included such matters as:

Favoritism towards Russia which resulted in America's failure to expeditiously recognize the independence of the Baltic nations, and which viewed Ukraine's freedom crusade as "suicidal nationalism."
The United States allowing Russia to grab all of the foreign assets of the Soviet Union (embassies, etc.) but demanding that all 15 former Soviet republics share in paying off the Soviet debt.
Forgiving the debts of certain "chosen nations" but demanding that Ukraine and other former Soviet republics pay debts which were incurred by another political entity, the Soviet Union, during a period in history when only one of the Soviet republics, Russia, was in charge.
Demands by the Bush administration that all nuclear warheads in Ukraine be turned over to Russia despite the fact that Russia was selling war materials to other nations and still had missiles pointed at the United States.
A Freedom Support Act that provided Russia with an inordinate amount of support and practically ignored the other newly independent nations.
A state department that discouraged investment in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics.

There were also many excellent suggestions made by the participants.

Mr. Watral suggested that the United States government assist and support the establishment of cooperative credit unions in Ukraine and throughout Eastern Europe, an effort which The World Council of Ukrainian Cooperatives has already initiated.

Mr. Slywotsky believed that greater political stability in Ukraine and other republics would create wider international markets for the United States and more jobs for Americans. Supporting a free market in Ukraine was good business for America, he emphasized.

Mr. Kulas suggested that the United States should become more proactive in developing social and economic ties with Ukraine, mentioning the past reticence of the Bush administration to do so.

I recommended that in cooperation with universities and local ethnic group leaders, the Clinton administration establish "liberty institutes" which would prepare the best and the brightest of each East European nation for future leadership in a democratic, diverse and free market society; review the curriculums of various government-funded centers of Soviet and Russian Studies to determine if their approach is still Russophilic in its orientation; re-establish the position of special assistant for ethnic affairs in the White House to assure a mutually beneficial flow of information between neglected European ethnics and the Clinton administration.

Mr. Lozynskyj had the most suggestions. He believed, among other things, that the United States should: provide Ukraine with certain security guarantees for unilaterally surrendering its nuclear arms; support Ukraine's entry into NATO; develop bilateral military exchanges with Ukraine that would assist in establishing civilian control over the post-Soviet military; assist in the establishment of a currency stabilization fund for Ukraine prior to the introduction of the hryvnia, Ukraine's national currency.

All of our suggestions were duly noted and recorded. Before leaving we were assured, once again, that Mr. Clinton was serious about reaching out to all groups and that our ideas were important to the president-elect.

My overall Impression of the meeting was positive. To my knowledge, this is the first time anything like this has happened during a presidential transition period. The Clinton people now have a clear and substantive record of the hopes and aspirations of Eastern Europeans in America, and if they are serious about taking our views into account, then we're off to a good start.

Since returning from Little Rock, however, I have been dismayed by the appointment of Warren Christopher, a former Carter administration diplomat, as Secretary of State, and Clifton Wharton, an Afro-American educator with absolutely no foreign policy experience, as his deputy. What kind of message do these appointments send to the Russians? Will Bill Clinton be perceived as a cream puff by the Russians? Nikita Khrushchev placed missiles in Cuba because he thought Jack Kennedy was a lightweight. Leonid Brezhnev thought the same of Jimmy Carter when he invaded Afghanistan.

Although I bow to the political wisdom of the Clinton people for involving Eastern Europeans so early in the game, the proof will be in the pudding of foreign policy appointments that follow, and the manner in which the inevitable first "Russian crisis" is handled by Mr. Clinton.

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