Rightward ho!

The cabinet George W Bush has assembled with admirable speed, making up for lost time during the protracted election, is strongly conserva...

The cabinet George W Bush has assembled with admirable speed, making up for lost time during the protracted election, is strongly conservative and has proven capabilities in business and government. That combination should guarantee a pronounced rightward shift in American policies at home and abroad. When he was declared winner of the controversial presidential election, Bush promised to unite a divided nation and to practice bipartisanship.

Americans must wait to find out what he intends to do to keep that promise. As far the cabinet is concerned, regardless of the fact that it happens to be the most ethnically diverse in American history, the conservative bent is unmistakable and is its most striking characteristic. Only one Democrat has been persuaded so far to join his team. Although Democrats propose to contest the appointments of two or three they consider arch- conservatives, including John Ashcroft attorney general and Linda Chavez labour secretary, they are unlikely to do anything more thanscore political points. Senate approval of all cabinet nominees is taken as a foregone conclusion.

If George Bush is a work in progress, as is said, there is no question that Dick Cheney, vice-president-designate , is fully fashioned, knows what he wants and how to achieve it. The shape of the cabinet owes not a little to Cheney and this hardliner is expected to be a dominant influence in many policy areas and especially foreign and security policies. At the same time since Bush is by instinct, if not by choice, a delegator of authority, the members of his cabinet could exercise more real power in his administration than the members of Bill Clinton8217;s cabinet did at any time in the last eight years. New directions in economic policy and in security and foreign policy should become visible fairly early. At the moment, all attention is concentrated on the US economy. Bush who has been saying his promised 1.3 billion tax cut is necessary to boost a flagging economy, has been upstaged by the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan8217;s dramatic decision to cut interest rates, a quicker and more certainmeans of stimulating the economy. Although attention needs soon to move on to the impact of a US economic slowdown on the rest of the world and what multilateral institutions can do to soften the blow for vulnerable economies, that will not be high on the Bush agenda.

In international affairs, specific crisis from externally-made ones like West Asia to home-grown ones like the missile defence controversy will be among the main priorities during Bush8217;s four-year term. What is of special interest to the world is how this nation will exercise its unprecedented power and influence. Bush8217;s commitment to hardline defence postures and relative lack of interest in world affairs means that it will be left to his defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of state, General Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to define policy. They are all said to be realists, something India should welcome in preference to idealists who attempt unwisely to shape the world according to their own lights.