Ready to Pledge Allegiance

By Hugh Sidey

Ronald Reagan will not only be "chairman of the board" of the U.S. In a sense, he will lead a kind of multinational enterprise the likes of which this world has never imagined. From Tokyo to Turin, business executives who have helped fashion economies heavily dependent upon international trade gave their support to Reagan, not a few of them half jesting that they are so bound to the U.S. that they should be allowed to vote. Now they wait with hope and considerable caution for an executive reorganization in the "home office" in Washington that, with luck and a bit of wisdom, could become a potent force for more prosperity throughout the world--and for peace as well.

For quite a while now the bright young men of the State Department have seen the potential of the multinational free marketplace. They have urged that the U.S., the godfather of this commercial era, do all it could to nurture multinational corporations, to bring in the Third World and its resources and even to entice Communist countries to take part. The idea was simple: get a number of nations interlocked in retrieving raw materials, manufacturing goods and distributing products, and the people who do this work and prosper from it will form a powerful influence within each country fighting against any disruption of the system by political elements. It is more difficult for radicals to seize mines, bomb factories or interrupt shipping when they know their own people have an interest in keeping these activities going.

It is not all that easy, of course. The internal competition among the peddlers is intense and the scramble for resources still ignites national passions.

But there is a civilizing theme that runs through the ranks of the people who lead world commerce. They abhor war, they have a rising sense of their obligation to help less developed societies and, in most cases, they see that self-restraint and cooperation are essential to provide the necessary stability to make it all work.

Despite its current problems, the U.S. remains the principal partner of the worldwide trading bloc, and by a big margin. So President Reagan, in that respect, will be President of all.

While wary and a bit wondering, executives abroad are hopeful, even enthusiastic, about the stability and sympathy for their problems that a Reagan Administration promises. They might not order the band to play Hail to the Chief for Reagan just yet. But the new President would surely get a doff of their hats--or even a toast of Dom Perignon--if he would be more insistent that allied political leaders be firmerin meeting defense needs and cooperate more among themselves, even as businessmen have learned to do.

There was Heineken (of the beer) in The Netherlands and Rothschild (of the bank) in Great Britain and Lanvin (of the perfume) in France and Agnelli (of the automobiles) in Italy, all of varying language and dress and humor, but comrades-in-arms in their exotic adventure of jets and ships and marketplaces. It is an astonishing experience to dine with this fraternity and learn that a British banker has spent the week in Charlotte, N.C., where he guides a financial institution; a German economic expert has seen more Dallas Cowboys games than most Texans; an Italian industrialist has supped with Henry Kissinger in New York a few nights ago, and will see him in two weeks in the Bahamas.

Many thoughtful people believe that it is in this world that Reagan can be most effective. If he can help show all nations that good business is not rapacious but creative, if he can help dispel the adversary relationship between governments and commerce and found real partnership, if he can show that productivity is the result of true social progress, then Reagan could preside over a period that might bring more benefits for more people than anything we have seen in this century. The European branch office is ready to try, and the home office seems to have caught the spirit.

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