Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Changes expected overseas Date: Wed, 4 Nov 92 16:16:30 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD Changes expected overseas \SH Defense, trade biggest worries \BY FROM COMBINED DISPATCHES \DT LONDON LONDON - Bill Clinton's victory in the 1992 U.S. presidential election was hailed today as a major turning point in Britain. The Independent newspaper said the incumbent, George Bush, had simply run out of ideas and energy. Senior British journalist and political commentator Anthony Howard said Mr. Clinton would now have to fulfill the hopes of the voters who backed him. "Bill Clinton fought this election on change," Mr. Howard said on BBC television. "Now he's got to deliver." While some European and Asian commentators predicted strains over the next president's defense and trade policies, the modest financial market reaction to Mr. Clinton's election indicated a confidence in continuity. "The most important thing for Australia and America's other foreign partners is that the United States be confident of its strengths and values and sure of its place in the world," Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating told the federal parliament today. In Tokyo, the dollar rose against the yen, but there was little reaction on the struggling Tokyo exchange. There was some optimism that Mr. Clinton would help revive the U.S. economy, but concern he might adopt protectionism to do so. Foreign Minister Michio Watanabe released a statement saying: "The revitalization of the American economy is important not only for the United States alone but also for Japan and for the whole world." Mr. Watanabe had been quoted yesterday by the mass-circulation Asahi Shimbun as fretting that the Democrats would "apply the brakes to Japan's selling products cheaply." Richard von Weizsaecker, Germany's president, sent a telegram that said, "after the end of the Cold War, we stand together before new and global challenges which must determine our political thinking and actions." There was some trepidation about Mr. Clinton's stated plans to further trim U.S. troop levels in Europe. "We need an American presence in Europe more now than at any time since World War II," said Peter Jay, who was Britain's ambassador to Washington in 1977-79. "Europe is a frightening and dangerous place." In Baghdad, state-run Iraqi Radio ran the election news as the fifth item in its morning report. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM