The Presidency: Protecting the Flank

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to act as a mediator in the Viet Nam war.

Moreover, a high-ranking U.S. official noted that Moscow and East Europe have recently "been listening with great attentiveness to everything we've had to say about bringing the war to an end." In Warsaw, a Polish official just back from the nine-nation Communist summit in Moscow said the bloc countries "are pretty tired" of the Viet Nam war, if only because of its mounting cost. In Moscow, he complained, the conferees were pressured into signing a pledge to raise nearly $1 billion in precious hard currencies so that Hanoi could purchase goods in such Western markets as Japan and West Germany.

Under the Canopy. In the long view, the conference is likely to have less impact on what happens in Viet Nam than in the whole of Asia. Johnson's constant refrain was Asia's growing sense of regional pride. "It's like what Baltimore got from winning the World Series," he said at one point. While that must have baffled any Asian leaders who heard it, they were clearly gratified by his pledge that the U.S. was committed to help the area not as a dominant power but as a partner within a new comity of nations.

Of course, the obstacles are enormous. The people of the area are bewilderingly diverse in their language, their history, their geography, their politics, and even their religion—they pay homage not only to Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed, but also to Confucius, Lao-tzu and Zoroaster. Economically, as underdeveloped nations they compete bitterly for markets for their copra and sugar, rice and rubber. India, Pakistan and Burma have shown no interest in the hustle and bustle around them. Indonesia, still in the shakedown stage after its anti-Communist upheaval, is only warily beginning to participate. Cambodia stands aloof, although Premier Sihanouk, who likes to root for the winning team, has lately taken steps to bleach some of the pro-Peking coloration out of his government.

Still, tentative moves are beginning to be made, with the U.S. often acting as a catalytic agent to bring them together. In the drafting of the Manila Conference communique, said an Australian official, without resentment, "It was the U.S. all the way, from impregnation to gestation to delivery." Thanks largely to the protective canopy of U.S. power, the nations of the region enjoy the freedom to develop their own way. The value of that canopy was not lost on Asia's nations last week when Red China reported that it had launched a nuclear missile and may soon be capable of striking every nation on Asia's rim from Korea to Pakistan (see THE WORLD). As the Economist editorialized at week's end:

"Whatever the verdict history eventually passes on Mr. Johnson's policy in Viet Nam, he has shown that the United States is as willing to exert its influence in Asia as it is in Europe. The shift of America's weight to its Pacific flank is making itself felt."

Waltzing Imelda. While America's influence was discreetly evident in Manila, the conference was conspicuously an Asian affair—as February's Honolulu meeting was not. The allies' Filipino hosts handled the summit meeting with extraordinary efficiency. The arrangements were Imelda Marcos' province, and she took charge of everything, from refurbishing the Manila Hotel with treasures wheedled from