Soviet Czar

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By Ned Zeman

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On the eve of Secretary of State James Baker's trip to Moscow, Ukraine and Belorussia, the White House has decided to name a special czar to centralize U.S. policy on aid to the Soviet republics. The leading contender for the post, sources say, is Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, who also coordinated U.S. aid to Eastern Europe. "We've got to get our act coordinated if we're going to help these new republics--and whatever democratic forces exist in them--succeed," says a top U.S. official. U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Robert Strauss is pushing Bush to propose stepped-up aid, but in an election year there's no consensus on the Hill-or within the administration.

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