In The Hero in History Sidney Hook argues that, with one possible exception, no great leader has managed singlehandedly to change the course of history. The one exception: Lenin. The Russian Revolution "was triumphant," writes Hook, "because of the directing leadership of Lenin …without him it would have been lost." Stalin, Lenin's sanguinary successor and founder of the "cult of personality," did manage, however, to place his own terrible stamp upon the Soviet system. Perhaps this double legacy is what accounts for the lingering perception in the West that Soviet behavior (and with it the destiny of the world) is dictated by the man at the top.

Mexico's two thousand-mile border with the United States is unarmed, but it remains the locus of sharp conflicts. Last October, House Speaker "Tip" O'Neill, bowing to pressure from the Hispanic Caucus, withdrew the Simpson- Mazzoli bill on immigration reform over White House objections that "it is in the best interests of all Americans to have the nation regain control of its borders." Jorge Bustamante, director of Mexico's Center for Border Studies, argues, however, that such a bill would "leave all migrant workers, whether documented or not, in a state of virtual slavery, since they will have no access to the courts to plead for justice."

The last two years must surely qualify as among the most difficult in NATO history. It seems as though one can't pick up a magazine or journal these days without finding an article about the problems, if not the imminent demise, of the Western alliance. The titles alone are revealing: "What's Wrong With NATO?" "Can NATO Survive?" "Challenge to NATO's Cooperation," "Europe and America: The Politics of Resentment."

U.S. policies can play a major part in influencing change in South Africa, but before this can occur there is much faulty thinking to correct. Traditional academic commentary on the matter prescribes for the U.S. the role of honest broker; indeed, the State Department often categorizes its own role in such terms. This is a myth that must be exploded immediately. The United States has too much at stake in the area; it can't pretend to be neutral or play the role of a third party mediator. It is a major partner.

The current international debt crisis is a relatively new phenomenon and one that, imposed on a malfunctioning international monetary system, threatens a catastrophe far worse than that of the 1930s. Already several Third World countries are facing total economic collapse and political anarchy. How this came about, how the problem is being diagnosed, and what is being proposed to meet the crisis makes a sorry story indeed.

Monarchies would appear to be a dying breed of political system, and those in which royal heads of state rule as well as reign are rarer still. As to the Middle East, the fall of the shah of Iran in 1979 was widely regarded as betokening the imminent demise of other dynastic regimes in that part of the world. Yet a closer look at Jordan and Saudi Arabia—both critically important to U.S. interests in the area—indicates that their governments seem to enjoy a considerable degree of legitimacy and, despite major problems, are likely to survive for some time to come. They do, however, face significant challenges in a period of rapid and unrelenting change. and

The Chinese have sayings to fit many situations, and there is even one that describes the state of relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China today: Anything pushed to an extreme must bounce back. After the euphoria that followed the normalization of relations in 1978, which deepened into mutual infatuation and the belief mat all previous animosities had been obliterated, there came an increasing awareness that all was not quite so rosy, followed by backing away by both sides.

According to a 1982 report prepared for the governor of New York by Joseph A. Califano, Jr., former secretary of health, education, and welfare, the number of heroin addicts in New York City had increased by 50 per cent since 1978. A Rand Corporation study quoted in the Califano report indicated that heroin addicts averaged 167 crimes a year. And the trends in both were upward.