Genuine support for Communism -- meaning the Marxist-Leninist governing ideology of the Soviet Union and its allies, as distinct from various flavors of socialism or social democracy -- was minimal in the Western world, despite the United States government's best efforts to uncover it. But you didn't have to endorse Communism to be fascinated by it. Simply the existence of that alternate model, with its claim of scientific inevitability and its alleged utopian aims, had a bizarre, distorting effect on political discourse clear across the ideological spectrum.

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The nearly 30 works he published were instrumental in bringing the Soviet Union to its knees, but none struck as deeply as his first, a slim volume called "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." Its author was an artillery officer who, during World War II, had depicted Stalin unfavorably in a letter to a colleague, earning himself an eight-year sentence in a labor camp. In the camp he survived his first bout with cancer; then, facing internal exile in the outer reaches of the empire, began to write of his experiences while teaching science at a high school, guided by Dostoevski's insight that "beauty will save the world."

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Less than a month ago, the United States similarly lost its claim to superpower status when a barrel of crude oil roared past $110 on the international market, gasoline prices crossed the $3.50 threshold at American pumps, and diesel fuel topped $4. As was true of the USSR following the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the USA will no doubt continue to stumble on like the superpower it once was; but as the nation's economy continues to be eviscerated to pay for its daily oil fix, it, too, will be seen by increasing numbers of savvy observers as an ex-superpower in the making.

That the fall of the Berlin Wall spelled the erasure of the Soviet Union's superpower status was obvious to international observers at the time. After all, the USSR visibly ceased to exercise dominion over an empire (and an associated military-industrial complex) encompassing nearly half of Europe and much of Central Asia. The relationship between rising oil prices and the obliteration of America's superpower status is, however, hardly as self-evident. So let's consider the connection.

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Hiring Kristol did not bring an "opposing view" to the Times' Op-Ed page, of course, because columnist David Brooks already represents the same worldview that Kristol does. Nor does the Times' roster of liberal pundits provide a full complement of "opposing views." Most liberal commentators share the neocons' belief that it is America's right and responsibility to exercise "global leadership," even when that role involves the aggressive use of American military power and constant interference in other countries' affairs. The Times' Thomas Friedman was an energetic supporter of the Iraq war until it went south, and Nicholas Kristof is a passionate advocate of U.S. intervention in Darfur. Columnists like Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich have been sharply critical of the neoconservatives' worst follies, but both proceed from the familiar liberal internationalism that has characterized the American foreign policy establishment for many years.

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All the little kids dressed up as princesses and animals and superheroes were done for the night and only the sullen teenagers remained, who don't bother with costumes -- they simply go as teenagers. I suppose I could've put on the raven suit and lurked in the shadows, but a 6-foot-4-inch raven could send a sensitive child careening down the slippery slope toward a life of therapy. So I put away the raven outfit for next year. I come from a town where people celebrated Halloween by digging graves in their front yards and dressing up as corpses and lying in the holes, waiting to snatch at children's ankles, but that was long ago and everything was scarier then.

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Yet, with not even a decade of this century behind us, we are already witnessing the rise of a multipolar world in which new powers are challenging different aspects of American supremacy -- Russia and China in the forefront, with regional powers Venezuela and Iran forming the second rank. These emergent powers are primed to erode American hegemony, not confront it, singly or jointly.

How and why has the world evolved in this way so soon? The Bush administration's debacle in Iraq is certainly a major factor in this transformation, a classic example of an imperialist power, brimming with hubris, overextending itself. To the relief of many -- in the United States and elsewhere -- the Iraq fiasco has demonstrated the striking limitations of power for the globe's highest-tech, most destructive military machine. In Iraq, Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor to two U.S. presidents, concedes in a recent Op-Ed, "We are being wrestled to a draw by opponents who are not even an organized state adversary."

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The disapproving look I got from Barbara Bush at a state dinner in honor of Russian President Boris Yeltsin. He was seated at the table next to mine and, thinking of my nieces and nephews and wanting to come up with some historic memento of the occasion, I asked Yeltsin to sign my menu card. Sitting next to me was the wife of James Billington, head of the Library of Congress and a renowned Russia scholar. When she saw what I did, she asked me to get an autograph for her husband. So I again defied the gods of protocol and approached Yeltsin. He graciously obliged. He was having a great time, and enjoying being the center of attention. When I caught Mrs. Bush's look, I felt a bit uncomfortable. But I was not sorry I had gotten the autograph, especially for the nation's top librarian. (Washington, D.C., 1990)

From "Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times," by Helen Thomas (Lisa Drew Book/Scribner, 1991)

Billy Graham, evangelist. "Interest in religion"

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