The Secret Passion of Al Gore

But if China and Russia continue to act up, voters might find it reassuring to have a connoisseur in the White House. And in the meantime, Gore won't be able to kick his foreign policy habit. Over the howls of his political team, he insisted on flying two years ago to Kyoto, Japan, to rescue a 155-nation global-warming treaty, something the Republican Senate is never likely to ratify. Last summer, when advisers would have preferred that his time be spent claiming credit for this country's economy, Gore was in Ukraine, urging President Leonid Kuchma to take the bitter economic medicine of the International Monetary Fund. And while political wisdom argued for more quality time in Iowa and New Hampshire last winter, Gore was laying out his economic vision in Davos, Switzerland, touring a radio factory in Cape Town and acting as host at international conferences on reinventing government and fighting corruption.

On Kosovo, of course, Gore's only choice is doing what he can to make Clinton succeed. If it was Gore who planted the policy in the first place, perhaps it is fitting for him to reap the blame or the benefit for the outcome. He's got a vision for the kind of world he wants to see; Kosovo may well determine whether he gets to see it as Commander in Chief.