An abiding criticism of the Reagan administration in the first six months of its life was that it had no foreign policy. In a global sense this criticism was certainly well taken: Nothing resembling Kissinger's detente policy or Carter's human rights doctrine seemed even in the works. Yet without the essential dimensions of a universal foreign policy, regional policies were taking shape.

Shortly after Reagan's election and well before his inauguration, those who saw themselves as both the authors and legatees of the Reagan landslide made a move to dismantle the Carter African policy and to ensure that its like would not soon emerge. Reagan's conservative allies in Congress—most notably Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina—put the new administration on notice that henceforth South Africa would be dropped from this country's enemies list and that the United States no longer would be counted in the ranks of Pretoria's antagonists at the United Nations.

It was on October 23, twenty-five years ago, that Hungarian students first tobk to the streets of Budapest shouting slogans and addressing demands to the regime The unexpectedly harsh reaction to those demands touched off what is called the Hungarian Revolution of 1956—the two weeks of patriotic struggle, revolution, and heady freedom that came to an end with the brutal predawn drive of the Soviet military machine.

Actually, fierce fighting continued for another ten days and was carried on sporadically for weeks. “Free dom radios” transmitted regularly through November 9, and the last did not fall silent for many days beyond that Workers' and revolutionary councils, though out lawed by decree, functioned throughout much of the country until well into the next year. Compulsory Rus sian was abolished in the universities in late November (not to be reinstituted until February, 19S7) and a general strike paralyzed the country for months.

In our collective fascination with contemporary Poland we have focused almost exclusively on the democratic or, more properly, anarchistic workers movement. But while Solidarity may be the soul of contemporary Poland, it is far from being its arm. A year after Gdansk it remains without institutionalized assurances of constructive input at the level of policy formation, having to rely on strike threats and other forms of “coercive” action. Moreover, its registration as a legal, independent organization has sparked the creation of numerous other groups, some of which appear intent on beating back the popular movement of which they themselves are a product.

“Be afraid. Nuclear death threatens us all!” So read the banners unfurled at this June's biennial assembly of the German Protestant Churches in Hamburg. In Frankfurt a businessman was adamant. “The best days are behind us. Now the Americans will drag us into a nuclear war. And all for what?”

Fear is abroad in West Germany, fear of what may happen if American medium-range rockets are installed on West German soil to counter the threat from the Soviet SS-20, Opposition to the proposed deployment has emerged as the one issue that may crystallize the disparate strands of unease and discontent within the country into something much more powerful-something that could, if unchecked, not only hasten the collapse of the ruling coalition of Social and Free Democrats, but rock the foundations of the Atlantic Alliance until it collapses.