Albright's turn

Riding the magic carpet of Wednesday's unanimous Senate confirmation vote, Madeleine Albright becomes secretary of state this Thursday. She can be an eloquent champion of freedom around the world. How skillfully she blends that calling with the pragmatic politics of U.S. diplomacy will define her stewardship at the State Department. Restoring America's traditional interest in democracy and the rule of law to the heart of Washington's foreign policy agenda would be a service to the nation and the world.

As America's chief diplomat and principle voice on international issues, Mrs. Albright must carry out President Bill Clinton's decisions. But she also has an extraordinary opportunity to shape the debate. She should use it to restore a better balance to policies that have become excessively driven by commercial considerations.

America's national interests sometimes call for putting commercial or security concerns ahead of human rights issues. It makes sense, for example, to negotiate with Stalinist North Korea on nuclear weapons issues, to expand trade with a less than democratic Mexico and to maintain economic exchanges and diplomatic dialogue with a China that torments democrats and dissidents and bullies its smaller neighbors.

But such diplomatic realism does not require Washington to mute its distaste for provocative and repressive policies, as it has most conspicuously done in the case of China. Overlooking such behavior weakens U.S. credibility abroad and feeds cynicism at home. The American people expect their foreign policy to reflect American ideals.

-- The New York Times