February 6, 1994

LIKE relics from an age when superpowers armed for Armageddon ruled the earth, cavernous hangars and assembly buildings at the Calverton Airport in Riverhead tell of a once-thriving partnership between the Grumman Corporation and the Navy. But today there is mostly silence on runways where for nearly 40 years jets that Grumman built for the Navy, including fleets of F-14's, blasted skyward. By the end of next year the last of 1,500 employees at the 3,000-acre airport, owned by the Navy and leased to Grumman, will depart for the last time.

The raging arguments over relations with Vietnam and China are at the core of a sharpening debate in American foreign policy. In a world where every nation's motto is now "export or die," where should the United States draw the line between its desire to export its values and its increasing requirement to export its goods? During the cold war, the main debate was between idealists who argued that relations with other countries should depend on their human rights behavior and realists who argued that the United States could not afford militarily to isolate dictatorships in places like the Philippines or Iran, because their support was needed against Moscow.

WHAT a difference a recovery can make in Detroit. Only yesterday, it seems, the Big Three chiefs and President Bush flew to Tokyo complaining about "getting our brains beaten in," to use Lee Iacocca's vivid expression. Today the Big Three, exemplified by Chrysler's stunning turnaround, are selling cars almost as fast as they can build them. With improved American quality and Japan's higher prices, Detroit's models indeed represent superior value, a claim that is finally holding water.

Hours after a figure-skating panel recommended that Tonya Harding face a disciplinary hearing for possible ethics violations, the United States Olympic Committee positioned itself to rule on Harding's eligibility before the Olympic skating competition begins Feb. 23. The U.S.O.C. notified Dennis Rawlinson, one of Harding's attorneys, that it may ask her to appear in Norway before its games administration board, which resolves all disputes that have not been settled by the time the American delegation leaves the United States.

Vietnam's Business Rush Now that American companies can trade with Vietnam, several are jumping right in. But for some, Vietnam is down the list of priorities in Asia, behind markets like China, Thailand and Indonesia. Page 11. Zones of Disagreement New York's request for Federal money for an "empowerment zone" has turned into a political brawl. Page 39.