Wasn’t it only a few weeks ago that we heard the refrain again and again from Senator Kerry and those who stumped for him, like retired General Wesley Clark? President Bush, they insisted, had arrogantly snubbed the “international community.” What had he done? In the run-up to the Iraq war, he had tried to get support from the Security Council for the proposition that its own resolutions should be taken seriously by Saddam Hussein. When he was blocked by France and Russia, he essentially end-ran the Security Council and the U.N. and built an international coalition of willing nations which then rolled up its sleeves and did the work the U.N. was too compromised and dysfunctional to do. For this, the president was castigated as a “unilateralist” and a “cowboy,” insensitive to what Kerry called the “Global Test” he wanted to impose on U.S. foreign policy.

Why is all this suddenly relevant again? Because Gen. Clark has a very interesting op-ed in this morning’s Wall Street Journal. Clark is rightly concerned that the situation in Kosovo is again becoming unstable, and concludes that Serbs and Kosovars could soon be at each other again if action is not taken by the international community. So what’s his solution? He writes that the U.S. should ensure that the matter is taken up at the U.N. by the Security Council. BUT, he admonishes: “should resolution of Kosovo’s status be blocked in the Security Council, the U.S. should lead a coalition of its European allies to organize the conference; endorse a Kosovo referendum for adoption of the new constitution to go ahead in early 2006; and then give diplomatic recognition and sustained support to Kosovo as a new state.”

So then, what does this prominent Democrat, former presidential hopeful and Kerry supporter say we should do about likely U.N. paralysis in a pending crisis? He says we should end-run the Security Council and the U.N., and build an international coalition of willing nations which can then roll up its sleeves and do the work the U.N. is too compromised and dysfunctional to do. Sound familiar? But for this, rest assured, Clark will not be called a “unilateralist” or a “cowboy.” With its special exemption for the Balkans — where, legend has it, President Clinton boldly dared to bomb without Security Council permission, and to the cheers of Democrats everywhere — the media will no doubt see General Clark as a visionary.

At least we now understand what the “Global Test” is all about. (Clark’s op-ed is here.)