Facing A World of Worries

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These protocol-laden formal festivities are essential, and can be pleasant, but they have little to do with the hard task of defining policy. That is a job that Reagan neglected during his first year, leaving subordinates to set priorities by default. Aides insist that the President is immersing himself more in the substance of strategy these days. They say, for example, that he has demanded that arms control planners present him with specific proposals for an actual reduction in nuclear weapons, and not just a slowdown in the rate at which the U.S. and U.S.S.R. are building them. Reagan needs to take the same tough approach to the entire range of issues that his Administration faces. The U.S. is unlikely to develop any consistent and forceful foreign policy unless the President pushes his aides to produce one—and follows through on its formulation and execution.

—By George J. Church. Reported by Johanna McGeary and Gregory H. Wierzynski/ Washington, with other bureaus