The Broken Dialogue on Foreign Affairs

Abstract

Liberal and conservative positions on foreign af fairs cannot be easily distinguished, for differences have dis appeared because of the hatreds, fears, and frustrations of the Cold War. Some students maintain that the left has disap peared from our politics, leaving a greatly expanded center and a swollen right. The issues of the Cold War are not debated. About a thousand extreme-right organizations dis tribute literature, and some of these are powerful. In for eign affairs, the extreme right sees conspiracies against the United States and equates liberalism with communism. In fact, present trends indicate that communism will not be the wave of the future. President Kennedy, by calling for in terdependence with a united Europe, has raised a standard to which Americans can rally.