May 18, 1986

President Hafez al-Assad of Syria, whose Government has been linked by Western countries to terrorism and a desire to expand Syrian influence in the Middle East, finds himself facing threats from inside and outside his country. The most immediate threat, Western diplomats say, is a growing fear in Damascus that long-festering tensions with Israel, particularly along the Golan Heights, could flare into a new war, possibly set off by accusations of Syrian involvement in recent terrorist incidents. Attention has also focused on Syria recently because of reported military preparations by Damascus in Lebanon, the terrorist issue and reports that Syria is trying to gain the release of American and French hostages seized in the region. The Syrian leader is also troubled by four other factors, according to Western diplomats, Arab experts and others who follow Syrian developments. Problems Abroad and at Home These are a continued inability to impose his domination on Lebanon; increasingly strained relations with his major regional ally, Iran; a collapsing economy, and a sudden surge in terrorist bombings at home, four years after he crushed underground domestic opposition.

Now that the art season is winding down, the professional critic is plagued by a two-word question. It comes his way from all over. The young and the old, the rich and the poor, the innocent and the experienced, the stranger and the lifelong friend, the amateur and the professional, the honeymooner and the married-since-ever, all send it by Federal Express. ''Who's new?'' they ask. And very grumpy they get, if an answer is not forthcoming. It's a fair question. In art, as in nature, there must surely be new green shoots, blooms on the way, colors too long in abeyance. It is our privilege - and, in their view, our duty - to come across. ''Put up or shut up'' is the order of the day. There are problems, though. One is that the new and the good are not necessarily the same. If we tell them about the new that is no good, they don't like it. If we tell them about the good that is not ''new'' in their sense, they like it even less. They want new names, and young names. If you tell them that the best shows to have opened in town this month are by Picasso at the Pace Gallery, Jasper Johns at the Museum of Modern Art, Louise Bourgeois at the Robert Miller Gallery and Ellsworth Kelly at the BlumHelman Gallery (both midtown and downtown), they feel cheated.

A Federal study commission will soon recommend a comprehensive new policy to encourage the donating and transplanting of human kidneys, livers and hearts. The panel says the Government should make a commitment to pay for organ transplant operations that people might not otherwise be able to afford. In a confidential final draft of its report, the commission, the Task Force on Organ Transplantation, says the United States should expand access to organ transplants for its own citizens, regardless of their wealth or insurance coverage, but should limit access for aliens who come to this country seeking transplants. White House Opposes Plan The Reagan Administration is scheduled to discuss the issue next week at a meeting of the President's Domestic Policy Council, an advisory body made up of Cabinet officers. Officials from the White House and the Office of Management and Budget said they were resisting the proposals on the ground that Federal costs could soar if the Government had to pay for many transplants.

THE fine wine flowed and the 190 guests dined on ginger shrimp and roast veal at the festive dinner that Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Company threw last month to celebrate the investment firm's just-completed buyout of the Beatrice Companies, the consumer products giant. Ten years ago, those involved in the secret planning for a takeover, even a big one, would have barely filled a table for eight at the Four Seasons. But the simple days are gone. The complexities and aggressiveness of Wall Street's takeover activity today require battalions of specialists who, in the normal routine of their jobs, arrange the deals and must resist the temptation to buy and sell the stocks before the takeover is announced. These deal makers are Wall Street's new ''insiders'' - a growing army of lawyers, investment bankers, analysts, accountants, junk bond salesmen, corporate executives, commercial bankers, public relations consultants, proxy solicitors, secretaries and even printers.

They left for many reasons. For some, it was a lack of job opportunity. For others, the schools did not seem good enough. And for still others it was just a vague apprehension about what a black majority government would mean for a white minority. In the six years since independence, perhaps 100,000 whites have left Zimbabwe, some to Europe, the United States or Australia, but most to South Africa, a country that seemed to embody the political ideals of white dominance that vanished here suddenly in 1980. Now, slowly and in uncertain numbers, former white residents of Zimbabwe are coming back.