Book Notes
| Published date | 01 December 1977 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002234337701400405 |
| Date | 01 December 1977 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Book
Notes
Reisman,
W.
Michael
&
Burns
H.
Weston:
World
Order
and
Human
Dignity.
Essays
in
Honour
of
Myres
McDouglas.
New
York:
The
Free
Press,
593
pp.
Myres
McDouglas
has
probably
been
the
most
influential
writer
on
international
law
in
the
United
States
in
the
period
since
1945.
His
strength
is
that
he
developed
a
conceptual
framework
which
made
it
possible
to
move
from
analysis
of
’inter-
national
law’
to
’world
order’.
His
weakness
is
that -
no
doubt
subconsciously -
he
has
postulated
American
dominant
values
to
be
’inclusive
values’
of
the
world
society.
In
so
doing,
however,
he
has
produced
some
superb
counterpoints:
Peace
researchers
will,
in
particular,
appreciate
that
among
his
former
students
are
Richard
Falk
and
Burns
Weston.
The
present
collection
is
a
set
of
essays,
most
of
them
by
former
students
of
Myres
McDougal.
Several
of
them
are
of
interest
to
peace
researchers.
This
includes
articles
by
Burns
H.
Weston
(The
Role
of
Law
in
Promoting
Peace
and
Violence),
Richard
Falk
(The
Role
of
Law
in
World
Society -
Present
Crisis
and
Future
Prospects),
Mary
Ellen
Caldwell
(Wellbeing -
its
Place
among
Human
Rights),
and
Lung-Chu
Chen
(Selfdetermination
as
a
Human
Right).
While
the
majority
of
the
articles
fall
squarely
within
the
traditional
Ameri-
can
visions
of
the
world,
most
of
the
articles
are
well
articulated
and
can
serve
as
useful
challenges
to
critical
researchers.
Gray,
Colin
S.,
1976.
The
Soviet-American
Arms
Race.
Farnborough,
England:
Saxon
House,
and
Lexington,
Mass.,
USA:
Lexington
Books,
viii
+
196
pp.
Price:
$17.85.
Colin
Gray
works
for
the
Hudson
Institute.
His
book
is
devoted
to
demonstrating
that
the
’honour-
able
causes’
of
arms
control
and
political
stability
are
best
promoted
by
vigorous
arms-racing
be-
haviour.
Gray
believes
basically
that there
is
no
alternative
to
arms
racing
that
is
technically
or
politically
possible,
and
that
the
present
arms
race
is
a
workable
and
working
relationship
between
the
superpowers
which
needs
only
more
energetic
participation
by
the
US.
Hypotheses
about
possible
driving
mechanisms
of
the
arms
race
are
usefully
classified
into
an
eleven-member
typology.
A
treatment
of
the
assymmetries
of
super
power
weaponry
concen-
trates
largely
on
the
clear-cut
issue
of
missile
throw-weight
and
mostly
ignores
accuracy
and
other
issues.
After
considering
six
models
for
pat-
terns
of
interaction
within
the
arms
race,
Gray
surveys
the
range
of
future
postures
and
tech-
nologies
which
the
US
might
pursue.
The
counter-
force
option
gets
strong
support.
The
main
value
of
the
book
lies
in
its
com-
prehensive
and
dispassionate
criticism
of
a
full
spectrum
of
theories
about
the
arms
race.
’The
common
and
indeed
even
attractive
fallacy’
that
study
promotes
peace
is
curtly
dismissed.
If
peace
researchers
were
ever
to
uncover
one
in-
disputable
arms
race
driving
mechanism,
writes
Gray,
then
malevolent
officials
would
somehow
use
this
discovery
to
drive
the
arms
race
yet
more
effectively.
Banton,
Michael,
1977.
The
Idea
of
Race.
London:
Tavistock
Press.
172
pp.,
f6.50.
This
is
a
study
of
the
social
utilization
of
the
notion
of
race,
particularly
as
it
grew
out
of
European
history
in
the
contacts
with
peoples
over-
seas
who
were
different
from
themselves.
He
argues
that
since
Europe,
following
the
industrial
revolution,
was
more
powerful
than
the
peoples
of
other
continents,
Europeans
unconsciously
im-
posed
their
own
social
categories
upon
other
peoples
who
have
now
adopted
them
as
their
own.
This
includes
the
categorization
of
race.
What
is
significant
in
this
study
is
the
way
in
which
notions
like
that
of
race
become
a
tool
of
power,
mainly
utilized
by
the
powerful.
In
its
wake
there
appears
so-called
scientific
theories
of
the
attributes
of
races -
theories
which
today
can
clearly
be
seen
as
stark
nonsense
but
which
passed
as
science
in
their
time.
He
examines
the
racialization
of
the
world
(i.
e.
making
the
notion of
race
significant)
as
a
conse-
quence
of
European
expansion
and
the
creation
of
white
settler
communities
in
the
non-European
part
of
the
world.
He
also
explores
the
period
of
social
Darwinism
utilized
by
the
powerful
to
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