When he launched the military action against Yugoslavia, U.S. President Bill Clinton said he was sending a message to Serb President Slobodan Milosevic. "If President Milosevic will not make peace, we will limit his ability to make war," Mr. Clinton declared. But in addition to their specific aims -- forcing Yugoslavia to accept the West's peace plan for Kosovo and averting a humanitarian catastrophe, perhaps even a major war, in the Balkans -- the airstrikes are also designed to send the rest of the world a message about U.S. credibility and intentions.

"It is also important to America's interests," said Mr. Clinton. Failing to back up its threats "would discredit NATO, the cornerstone on which our security rests." Mr. Milosevic has gotten the message: He no longer doubts the West's seriousness. Whether that has changed his mind is another matter. Unfortunately for the United States, other countries also see a message in the military action, and their reaction could be even more troublesome for U.S. interests.

To Russian minds, the NATO moves are another reminder of their country's growing impotence in international relations, and even in what Moscow likes to consider its sphere of influence. President Boris Yeltsin's growls, the suspension of contacts with NATO and the cancellation of Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov's trip to Washington had no impact on U.S. thinking.