Book Review: Gavan McCormack, Client State: Japan in the American Embrace (London: Verso, 2007, 246 pp., £17.99 pbk.)
| Author | Yee-Kuang Heng |
| Published date | 01 May 2009 |
| Date | 01 May 2009 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/03058298090370031312 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Millennium: Journal of International Studies 37 (3)
818
the Cold War era. Lewis’s analysis of China’s arms control behaviour
and its negotiating position on disarmament as a means of clarifying the
consistency of its nuclear posture is a novel one. There should be more of
such bold endeavours. In the least, this book provides a comprehensive
catalogue of China’s strategic nuclear forces, and its technical, diplomatic
and legal record over its arms control and disarmament behaviour (with
the latter extending to issues over the weaponisation of space) based on
robust sources considering the general dearth of information on these
subjects. It would definitely be an invaluable primer to students and
practitioners working on China’s current nuclear behaviour.
However, it must be said that the fundamental question about China’s
minimum means of reprisal – ‘How much is enough?’ as Lewis put it – is
not sufficiently determined in this book. While the generalisation about
nuclear expansion leading to diminishing returns, accidental war and
demanding costs is highly plausible, they do not provide automatic cov-
erage for the Chinese case. Yet, Lewis appears to have taken these asser-
tions as a given without marshalling further evidence that they some-
how figure in the deliberations of Chinese planners. Moreover, Lewis
states elsewhere that ‘[t]here is no evidence that China has ever placed
its strategic forces on alert’ (p. 15). Thus, it cannot be assumed without
further research of the Chinese case that nuclear expansion automatically
requires placing forces on high alert. By extension, it cannot be assumed
that nuclear expansion inadvertently increases the likelihood that Chinese
planners will trigger an accidental war. Ultimately, a fuller answer may
have to be sought through other variables such as Chinese nuclear doc-
trine and even Chinese strategic culture. While it may be true that ‘[t]he
attitudes of Chinese policymakers toward nuclear weapons ... are not
directly available for examination’ (p. 10), the future scholarship in this
field must endeavour towards piercing this veil through more intrepid
fieldwork and innovative frameworks of analysis that can exploit the
available information. Lewis provides a first bold step in the right direc-
tion but more work needs to be done.
GRAHAM GERARD ONG-WEBB
Graham Gerard Ong-Webb is a PhD Research Student and Commonwealth
Scholar at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, UK
Gavan McCormack, Client State: Japan in the American Embrace (London:
Verso, 2007, 246 pp., £17.99 pbk.).
While much academic attention in IR is currently lavished on the rise
of China, a somewhat less noticed but equally significant trend can be
seen with the revival and resurgence of interest in Beijing’s Great Power
rival, Japan. This timely contribution by Gavan McCormack comes with
a spate of notable books about Japan in 2007, including Richard Samuels’
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