There are also clear signs, even in recent public-opinion polls, that the traditional domestic consensus on military issues is beginning to break up.

"He was trying to build some kind of domestic consensus because this country is still split, and he needs a political consensus," Mr. Strauss said.

Otherwise, he has insisted, it will be impossible to shape a domestic or Congressional consensus on East-West relations.

But if the Senate should now fail to ratify, America will squander a precious chance to cement a bipartisan domestic consensus for arms control.

"I would take more time to arrive at a domestic consensus," he said in an interview.

A second lesson is that, in the United States, domestic consensus comes first.

If, instead, we seek to put pressure on those governments, there needs to be a far firmer domestic consensus on our objectives and whether they are within reach.

But the White House also received warnings that any quick moves toward war without a domestic and international consensus could create problems at home and abroad.

"Otherwise he will seem inconsistent and hypocritical and ultimately undermine the domestic consensus for intervention."

Ignoring such warnings, Chancellor Helmut Kohl has built a domestic consensus in favor of challenging the status quo.