Book Notes
| Author | Pavel Baev |
| Published date | 01 November 2003 |
| Date | 01 November 2003 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00223433030406016 |
| Subject Matter | Notes |
Keren, Michael & Donald A. Sylvan, eds,
2002. International Intervention: Sovereignty
Versus Responsibility. London & Portland, OR:
Frank Cass. 191 pp. ISBN 0714651923.
Since the end of the Cold War, the number of
studies on international interventions – military
or otherwise – has increased exponentially. In this
flood of books and articles, the new book edited
by Keren & Sylvan stands out because, in most of
its ten articles, rather neglected aspects of the
intervention quandary are being discussed. In the
first section, Howard Adelman introduces the
reader to theoretical approaches to humanitarian
interventions. He criticizes the ‘unreason of
realism’ as well as the often injudicious policies of
‘sentimentalism’. What is needed, according to
Adelman, is an enhanced understanding of inter-
national politics that takes both interests and
norms into account. In the second section, five
authors attempt to explain when people are most
likely to feel the need for humanitarian inter-
vention, how the decision whether to intervene
should be made and which role the media plays or
should play in these decisions. The conclusion of
this section is that, in almost all cases, a decision
in favour of intervention is most likely to occur
when the intervention is instigated to stop crimes
that transgress an important moral threshold (i.e.
genocide). The third section of the book contains
four articles on constraints and consequences of
intervention. Especially interesting is Barry
Cooper’s criticism of the Canadian discourse on
peacekeeping. Cooper alleges that the motivation
of Canadian politicians for participation in peace-
keeping missions lies in their desire to win a moral
high ground over their powerful southern neigh-
bour. The book ends with an appeal by the late
Neal Riemer, who urges scholars to take a stand
against genocide. Dieter Janssen
Legvold, Robert, ed., 2003. Thinking Strate-
gically: The Major Powers, Kazakhstan, and the
Central Asian Nexus. Cambridge, MA & London:
MIT Press. xii + 243 pp. ISBN 0262621746.
The main attraction of this neat and carefully
edited volume is that it indeed delivers on the
promise of its title and contains nothing but
undiluted well-informed and intelligent thinking.
The subject for this intellectual enterprise is as
controversial as it is attractive, since Kazakhstan,
which after 12 years of existence should no longer
be called a newly independent state, is now at that
precarious stage where massive inflow of invest-
ment in developing its natural resources could
stimulate liberal economic and political reforms –
or further corrupt its authoritarian regime. Five
prominent experts present their views on policies
toward Kazakhstan from, respectively, the USA,
Russia, Europe, Japan and China (in the opinion
of this reviewer, the latter perspective developed
by Xing Guangcheng is particularly interesting),
while the sixth chapter, written by a couple of
experts from Kazakhstan, presents an inside-out
analysis. These chapters are firmly set on track by
the editor’s introduction, and Sherman Garnett
draws from them extensively for his balanced but
challenging conclusion. The overall picture of
Kazakhstan becoming the centre of the increas-
ingly interconnected Inner Asia, where the
balance of opportunities and risks is now
extremely precarious, points to the need for pro-
active engagement, but remains free from any
direct advocacy or alarmism. Pavel Baev
Leifer, Michael, 2000. Singapore’s Foreign
Policy: Coping with Vulnerability. London:
Routledge. xv + 177 pp. ISBN 0515233534.
The late Michael Leifer, a life-long observer of
Southeast Asian politics, was a master of
balanced, unbiased precision. This is the last
book he published. One could not think of a
better introduction to the foreign policy of one
of the world’s smallest and most successful
states. Throughout its short history as an inde-
pendent state – since 1965 – Singapore has been
obsessed with its vulnerability. It has coped with
it by striving intensely for economic growth,
building a strong military deterrent against
Malaysia and Indonesia, being extremely prag-
matic in its foreign relations, seeking to retain a
US military presence in the region and counter-
balancing its intuitive inclination to rebuild ties
with China with a policy of close cooperation
within ASEAN. Singapore has no alternative but
to stay in its little pond, writes Leifer. And yet,
under Lee Kuan Yew, a former premier and now
senior minister, the city-state has become a
model for great continental China, and the
PRC’s foreign policy has turned more and more
pragmatic, increasingly geared towards
economic goals. If Michael Leifer had still been
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