Caveat; realism, reagan and foreign policy C.1

General Alexander Haig is known in this downtry for his service as President Nixon's Chief of Staff and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. But he is best known recently for his shuttle diplomacy-as U.S. Secretary of State-aimed at resolving the Falklands crisis. His revealing account of what went on behind the scenes he flew from Washington to London to Buenos Aires provides much new information about the intractability of the military junta which led inevitably to catastrophe. The manner in which Haig's frustrated mission was handled by the media was all too typical of the calculated stratagems used by Reagan's advisers to bring about his resignation.

Although, when President-elect Reagan asked General Haig to become Secretary of State, he assured him there would be no interference and that Haig alone would be the chief conduit for foreign affairs, this mandate was thwarted. Haig was firm and decisive, however, despite the political infighting: as well as trying to defuse the Falklands crisis, Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin had to be disabused about apparent US weakness in Central America, the role of Libya's Colonel Gaddafi in the Middle East had to be reassessed, and Chinese perceptions of the US as anti-Soviet rather than pro-Chinese had to be changed.

In this compelling memoir, Haig discusses the substance of American policy worldwide and reveals the machinations of the President's men. The problems, both global and political, that Haig confronted remain today and his proposals for solving them are even more valid now than when he left office.