Nation: The Mid East: Search for Stability

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THE Middle East, Richard Nixon had observed several times, is the greatest hazard to world peace because it could draw the superpowers closer to the ultimate conflict. The melancholy accuracy of his warning was established anew last week when Jordan's civil war threatened to go international. The column of tanks from the puny power that is Syria challenged more than King Hussein's army; it tested statesmanship and will in Washington, Moscow, and throughout the Middle East. Jordan's agony deferred still further any efforts to start Arab-Israeli peace talks.

It cast fresh uncertainty on Soviet-American relations at a time when Nixon was hoping to bring his "era of negotiation" to full reality. The eruption posed a new dilemma for a President whose doctrine is to reduce U.S. forces and commitments abroad while at the same time preserving stability. Most frightening of all, it emphasized the difficulty both world powers have in applying their strength with precision and in small doses.

Even when the crisis abated, leaving Hussein still in power and the Syrians in retreat—just as Washington wanted it—there was a bitter aftertaste, a feeling that the U.S. was being pressured in a manner that required new toughness on its part. Nixon was able to leave for his trip to the Mediterranean and Europe as scheduled, but the journey took on fresh and weightier significance. Although concern about Soviet activities in the Middle East was genuine enough, the original decision to take the trip had contained elements of routine flag showing and pre-election headline grabbing. Now the excursion assumed an air of urgency. The fleet he visits will have just returned from action stations where it was poised for combat. Conversations in Rome, Belgrade, Madrid and London will have less small talk, more serious discussion about where matters stand in the Middle East and between East and West.

His travels will serve to keep the nation's attention focused on the Middle East. The Chief Executive's physical presence near the danger zone is useful symbolism but will settle none of the Middle East issues. He will consult with his Viet Nam negotiating team at a country house near Tipperary in Ireland—but such consultations have been commonplace in Washington.

Dick and Pat will spend two nights in Belgrade with President Tito, lunch with Queen Elizabeth, and briefly visit Prime Minister Edward Heath outside London. They will see Pope Paul VI at the Vatican, spend a night with Italian President Giuseppe Saragat, visit Spain's Francisco Franco in Madrid. Before flying home, the Nixons will seek grave sites of ancestors in the Irish countryside southwest of Dublin. Perhaps the biggest symbolic point of the trip is that it takes the President in and near the ancient regions where Western culture has its roots, and where U.S. security interests are so seriously at stake.

Tensions Start