U.S. international policy sails on towards unknown

By Jonathan Wright/Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Like a giant tanker which takes time to turn, the U.S. diplomatic machine sails on into the unknown, following the course set by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright but without a new pilot ready to take over.

The uncertainty, product of the electoral wrangling in Florida between the Democratic and Republican candidates for the presidency, has not brought the machine to a standstill but some diplomats already see signs of indecision.

Under normal circumstances, when the new U.S. president is known the day after elections, political appointees know when their time is up and start to look for new jobs.

The new president sets up a transition team to find new personnel for the top positions and starts to put flesh on the bones of the policy guidelines he set during campaigning.

This year, with no result eight days after the Nov. 7 elections and the prospect of many days to go, the U.S. State Department is running on autopilot and anxiety is spreading.

If the Democratic candidate for the presidency, Vice President Al Gore, wins in Florida, many of the political appointees could stay on and policy might change little.

If the Republic candidate, Texas Gov. George Bush, takes office, new policy-makers will move in and order a more extensive review of U.S. foreign policy.

"At the lower levels you just do your job. Life goes on. But there is uncertainty about what direction policy will move in," said a foreign service officer whose job is safe.

"In the meantime you simply carry out the policies and wishes of the current administration," he added.

"Among the political people there's uncertainty about the future. Should they stay on or go out and look for jobs?" said a diplomat who has had extensive dealings with the State Department since the indecisive elections.

"Among the professional civil servants there's uncertainty about who will be the new boss, so there's a feeling of waiting. Decisions that don't have to be taken are not being taken. Things that can be put off are put off," he added.

One leading political appointee, Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, has already found another job.

Talbott, a key member of President Clinton's foreign-policy team for the past eight years, will become director of the new Center for the Study of Globalization at Yale University, the school said on Tuesday.

Diplomats say that for the moment they have no reason for concern, because of the permanence of the bureaucracy.

"You still have a functioning presidency and capable diplomats. Day by day business goes on as usual," said one.

"Fortunately there are no big decisions to be made because the biggest decision of the last couple of months -- on national missile defense -- has been postponed," said another.

President Clinton has passed to his successor the controversial decision on whether to go ahead with building the missile defense system, which is opposed by Russia, China and many of Washington's closest allies.

Clinton leaves office on Jan. 20, the day the new president should be inaugurated. So far few people expect that the electoral dispute will drag on that long.

But with every day the transition period grows shorter and the State Department still has some pressing issues to address, especially in the Middle East, where Israeli troops shot dead another seven Palestinians on Wednesday.

U.S. special envoy Dennis Ross has said he will leave at the end of the administration after more than eight years at the center of U.S. mediation in the Middle East.

Clinton has had meetings with both Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in the past week but analysts say a lame-duck president can do little here without an explicit mandate from his elected successor.

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