Being the world's most powerful country carries with it massive responsibilities, including leadership on global issues. The Bush Administration must decide if it is going to maintain United States' leadership or leave a dangerous vacuum.

A vacuum begs to be filled. In this case, Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, is moving quickly to fill the vacuum President Bush is creating. The question is whether we want to cede global leadership to him or keep it for the U.S.

As a nation with interests throughout the world, the United States cannot afford a weakened leadership position. Our interests are economic and military, environmental and human. They help to sustain our national security and to encourage the spread of democracy worldwide.

The recent softening of North Korea's position vis-à-vis South Korea and the U.S. has been remarkable. We had been making cautious moves to assess North Korea's real intentions and willingness to eliminate its missile capabilities. Secretary of State Colin Powell reiterated that policy soon after taking office. President Bush reversed his Secretary of State the next day.

What's so worrisome about that? Russian President Putin is all too anxious to become the mediator in northeastern Asia, leaving out the United States, despite our strong military interests. In addition, President Bush's unexpected policy reversal humiliated our long-time allies, the South Koreans, in the midst of important talks with their old adversaries.

This is no way to conduct foreign policy. Nor is it advantageous to the United States' leadership in the world to embarrass not only our allies but our own Secretary of State. It is particularly foolish to open the door to an aggressive, shrewd and ambitious man like President Putin.

Then there is the issue of global warming. Let's put aside for a moment the merits of alleviating global warming and just look at the foreign policy aspects of the President's decision to rescind long-standing U.S. policy.

The Kyoto agreement, which the U.S. negotiated and signed, has been the subject of intense, ongoing discussions among the nations of the world. Throughout his campaign, George Bush pledged to uphold the treaty and reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. By abruptly backing off that promise, he has infuriated our closest allies. These are allies we need to support our global interests.

Our allies will go forward with the Kyoto treaty despite the U.S. Interestingly, many American companies believe we are ignoring a very real problem. They fear that we have not only antagonized countries whose help we want on many issues, but we also may be less competitive as other countries develop and use "climate-friendly" technologies today that we will have to adopt tomorrow.

Let's look next at the Middle East. The Bush Administration is rightly reviewing our role in the peace-making process. But, it has made a big mistake in letting the reins of leadership fall. Once again, Russia's President Putin is moving into the void President Bush has created, meeting with the presidents of Syria and Egypt and voicing his intention to become intimately involved in bringing peace to the region.

For our primary Middle Eastern ally, Israel, that must be frightening. Russia has never been a friend of Israel. In addition, we have strong ties to such countries as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, intense interests in the petroleum reserves of the region and important military links to many Middle Eastern countries. Here is one world problem where we must be a principal player. Our interests are simply too important to let a rival take our place.

The world is full of opportunity and danger for the United States. The current stand-off with China over our airplane and crew is but one example of our intricate involvements around the globe-involvements that are critical to our national security. We cannot afford to have this, or any, president cede our leadership to anyone else. Being the only superpower is complex and difficult, but it gives us enormous opportunities. We must exert the leadership it requires or suffer severe consequences.