The Cold War is over, and there's a cease fire agreement in Bosnia.

But America's presence in Europe, particularly in the war torn Balkan States, is more important now than ever, former assistant secretary of state Richard C. Holbrooke said yesterday at the Yenching Lecture Hall.

Holbrooke, who news reports have fingered as a leading candidate to replace outgoing Secretary of State Warren G. Christopher, acknowledged that voters wanted their leaders to "come home and put the domestic house in order."

But he added: "The European Community cannot speak with a unified voice absent the leadership of the United States.... The U.S. has to accept the fact that it is a European power."

Holbrooke was the chief negotiator for the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords that brokered peace among warring factions in the former Yugoslavia. He criticized America's initial hesitancy to mediate the dispute.

"This was a case where an allied, unified response through NATO was essential early," he told the audience of 200. "The U.S. is now ready to play a more responsible role in the world again."

To assert its international authority, Holbrooke said, Congress must put aside partisan disputes and be willing to contribute more money to military expeditions and economic or humanitarian aid.

Less than one percent of the federal budget is devoted to foreign assistance.

Holbrooke also discussed the importance of strengthening NATO by increasing its membership. He mentioned the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland as countries that might join NATO in the future.

However, two-thirds of Congress must consent before a new nation can join NATO, so gaining membership will not be an easy process, he said. "NATO is not just a club that you go and pick-up a locker room key to."

Of the Dayton Accords, Holbrooke said that at the air base in Ohio "we erected a great big fence to keep the press out and the mass murderers in."

He described the negotiations as "extraordinarily difficult." But while the war is ended, he warned that "peace is not yet won."

Twenty-thousand Americans, who are serving under NATO command, still remain in Bosnia.