THERE IS an abiding paradox about the politics of the United States. It repeatedly berates other countries that fail to behave as the US thinks they should. And yet America repeatedly is reluctant to do as it would be done by. It urges other countries to behave well, but reserves for itself the right to behave badly.

The US Senate is to vote today on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which would ban all nuclear testing worldwide in order to bring nuclear proliferation under control. President Clinton has signed up for it, but Congress is unsure. The opposition among Republicans is so strong that, if the vote were to go ahead today, the treaty would almost certainly be rejected. The issue could then not come up for a new vote until 2001, so the best hope for those in favour is that today's vote will be postponed until the Republicans see sense.

The arguments against the treaty are similar to those of the gun lobby: good guys must be well armed, to fight off the well-armed bad guys. Republicans fear that the test ban treaty would leave America with one hand tied behind its back.

In reality, the US will remain well protected by its nuclear umbrella even after ratification of the treaty. Testing is in any case more valuable for those who are struggling to get on to the bottom rung of the nuclear ladder, than it is for those who are already at the top.

But the opponents of the treaty remain unmoved. A joint appeal by Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroder in The New York Times last week had little effect. Opponents insist that America must be ready for anything - including more testing, if need be.

There is a disturbing autism about the attitude of the nay-sayers, which fails to understand the stark message sent by America's defiant non-co- operation. America has played a valuable role in influencing two important non-signers, India and Pakistan, to modify their stance. In recent months, both those countries seemed ready to sign up for the treaty.

China, too, had pledged to join the signatories, but now appears to be backing away. Russia refuses to ratify until America does so. The delays in ratification have already had a dangerous knock-on effect in Russia, in that the bruised Moscow military looks likely to abandon any nuclear commitments not yet nailed down in treaties.

The Senate rebels in Washington argue that they are making the world a safer place. They are not. They are making it unimaginably dangerous.

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