LONDON: In its foreign policy, the United States has lost its way. The administration is clear-minded when it comes to pulling out of international obligations such as the Kyoto accords on global warming or the International Criminal Court.

But it is dangerously unclear about how to manage the crises which it faces externally and now, apparently, about how to manage itself.

After a week of contradictory signals over Kashmir, Al Qaeda and Palestine, matters are coming to a head.

At the heart of the uncertainty is the rivalry between two individuals: Secretary of State Colin Powell and Vice-President Dick Cheney. Their disagreement, both personal and political, goes a long way back.

In essence it is between Powell’s multilateralism and Cheney’s unilateralism, between alliance-building and the right of America to use force at will. Powell is said to be so exasperated that he is close to resignation.

The rift came into the open last week over the Middle East when Powell’s statement that the administration was ready to create a ‘provisional’ Palestinian state was played down by a coolly dismissive White House.

Bush’s plan, due to be announced this week, promises to be an uneasy compromise. It is expected to call for an interim Palestinian state while leaving uncertain its final borders and the timetable for determining them.

Rather than reassuring Palestinians, which is the plan’s ostensible intention, it may merely increase their frustration. We believe that Powell has the right of the argument: without a foreign policy that goes beyond the simple assertion of American interests, the US will find it increasingly hard to make friends and ever easier to make enemies.—Dawn/The Observer News Service.