A prominent West German politician and possible successor to Chancellor Helmut Schmidt told a Harvard audience yesterday that the Reagan administration's attitude towards arms control strain relations between his country and the United States.

Speaking in a 25-person seminar at the Center for European Studies. Hans-Jochen Vogel, a leading member of West Germany's Social Democratic Party, said the Reagan administration "had not yet clarified a foreign policy" and that "they control." West Germany would support the United States until Reagan "forces other countries to move in any direction," he added.

Vogel cited the worldwide development of fundamentalism and the populatrity of religious leaders like the Pope as signs of a global search for reassurance. These signs should remind world powers that their primary task is to "safeguard and preserve peace," he added.

Responding to a question on the U.S. image in West Germany, Voged said, "There is a broad understanding that America doesn't like to be pushed around." During the hostae crisis, he added. "There was big admiration that a big power was so patient.