Book Notes
| DOI | 10.1177/002234338101800406 |
| Published date | 01 December 1981 |
| Date | 01 December 1981 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
1981
Book
Notes
William
C.
Potter,
ed.
Verification
and
SALT:
The
Challenge
of
Strategic
Deception,
1980.
Boulder,
Westview.
259
pp.
$25.-.
Although
written
and
edited
at
the
height
of
the
SALT
II
verification
debate,
the
significance
of
this
book
transcends
SALT.
It
contains
the
best
American
statements
for
both
the
main
positions
in
the
verification
debate,
as
well
as
a
very
in-
formative
paper
on
the
Russian
attitude
to
verifica-
tion.
The
chapter
by
Blair
and
Brewer
is
one
of
the
best
available
summaries
of
the
capabilities
of
surveillance
satellites.
Most
readers
will
probably
conclude
from
this
book
that
US
verification
capabilities
are
adequate
for
monitoring
the
terms
of
treaties
such
as
SALT,
but
the
book
does
not
hide
the
verification
problems
of future
weapons
developments
such
as
mobile
strategic
missiles
and
long-range
cruise
missiles..
The
book
has
rel-
atively
little
to
say
about
verification
as
a
new
confidence-building
measure
and
the
consequences
of
this
for
superpower
interaction.
Samuel
B. Payne,
Jr.,
The
Soviet
Union
and
SALT,
1980.
Cambridge,
Massachusetts,
and
London,
England:
The
MIT
Press.
155
pp.
The
book
is
an
attempt
to
describe
the
groups
shaping
the
Soviet
policy
on
disarmament,
the
views
they
share,
and
their
divergences
of
opinion.
The
author
makes
extensive
use
of
public
Soviet
sources,
being
of
the
opinion
that
much
of
what
appears
in
print
in
the
USSR
represents
the
central
government’s
justification
and
explanation
of
its
decisions
to
persons
of
about
the
same
political
and
psychological
make
up
at
lower
levels
of
the
administration.
The
arms
control
attitudes
and
decisions
of
the
USSR
are
seen
as
the
outcome
of
the
attempts
of
the
’arms
controllers’
and
the
’militarists’
to
in-
fluence
the
ruling
elite.
The
former
group
con-
sists
of
diplomats
and
experts
on
foreign
relations,
the
latter
mostly
of
officers.
Both
view
the
US
as
obsessed
by
the
difficulty
of
pursuing
its
aggres-
sive
policies
with
waning
strength,
and
to
a
great
extent
ruled
by
an
elite
based
in
the
’military-
industrial
complex’.
They
also
agree
that
the
USSR
to
some
degree
has
overtaken
the
US
as
a
world
power,
and
that
socialism
will
eventually
prevail
in
the
world.
The
differences
in
opinion
occur
in
the
assessments
of
the
influence
of
pop-
ular
movements
and
of
the
more
’sober-minded’
elements
of
the
ruling
US
elite.
They
also
dis-
agree
on
the
necessity
of
increasing
the
military
strength
of
the
Soviet
Union.
Except
for
the
above
identification
of
the
participants
in
the
political
decision-making,
the
participants
remain
rather
anonymous,
and
the
organisations
and
events
shaping
them
are
hardly
mentioned
at
all.
This
leaves
us
with
a
clearly
delineated
description
of
the
process.
The
conclud-
ing
sections
on
the
prospects
for
progress
in
dis-
armament,
especially
SALT,
have
survived
the
turbulence
following
the
invasion
in
Afghanistan
and
the
crisis
in
Poland
etc.
quite
well,
as
they
deal
with
the
Soviet
system
rather
than
the
Western,
which
appears
to
have
changed
more
sig-
nificantly
in
response
to
these
events.
Ervin
Laszlo
and
Donald
Keys
(eds.),
Disarnw-
iiient:
The
Human
Factor,
1981.
Oxford:
Pergamon
Press,
160
pp.
+
index.
Disarmament
is
not
only
about
hardware
and
political
will.
It
has
also
to
do
with
the
human
dimension:
fears
and
threats,
security
and
in-
security,
values
and
beliefs,
welfare
and
justice.
Seen
in
the
societal
context,
the
interrelationship
between
the
political,
economic,
social
and
psy-
chological
factors
-
on
global,
national
and
in-
dividual
levels
-
is
of
crucial
importance.
It
may
be
difficult
to
arrive
at
disarmament
unless
at-
titudes
and
social
structures
are
changed.
Gen-
orally,
disarmers
take
these
human
factors
for
granted.
But
given
the
system
resistance
of
national
states
and
governments,
disarmament
may
not
be
successful
without
awakening
a
coun-
tervailing
political
interest,
inspiring
action
from
a
wide
public.
The
above
problems
were
central
in
the
col-
loqium
on
the
Societal
Context
for
Disarmament,
sponsored
by
UNITAR
and
Planetary
Citizens,
the
proceedings
of
which
are
presented
in
the
book
edited
by
E.
Laszlo
and
D.
Keys.
The
discussion
between
political
scientists,
sociologists,
psychol-
ogists,
communication
specialists
and
politicians
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