Book Review : International Détente and Disarmament (A collection of articles by Finnish and Soviet Scholars). Tampere Peace Research Institute and the Finnish Peace Research Association, Helsinki 1977. 271 pp

Published date01 March 1978
Date01 March 1978
DOI10.1177/001083677801300105
Subject MatterArticles
Book
Review
BO
ANKER
SVENDSEN
International
Détente
and
Disarmament
(A
collection
of
articles
by
Finnish
and
Soviet
Scholars).
Tampere
Peace
Research
Institute
and
the
Finnish
Peace
Research
Association,
Helsinki
1977.
271
pp.
This
book
is
composed
of
eleven
papers
whose
focus
is
divided
equally
between
Finland
and
the
USSR.
The
five
papers
by
Soviet
scholars
deal
with
different
aspects
of
the
Soviet
rela-
tionship
with
the
outside
world,
in
this
casc
primarily
the
USA.
The
subjects
are:
the
nuclear
test
ban
negotiations,
SALT,
the
devel-
opment
of
new
weapon
systems
and
the
MBFR
negotiations.
The
five
Finnish
papers
deal
with
the
problem
of
non-proliferation,
the
world
disarmament
conference
and
limitations
on
chemical
and
’dubious
weapons’
(incendiary
weapons,
small
calibre
projectiles,
certain
types
of
blast
and
fragmentation
weapons
and
time-
delay
weapons).
The
remaining
paper
is
jointly
authored
by
the
Soviet
scholar
I.
Kovanlenko,
who
deals
with
the
relationship
between
trans-
national
movements
and
disarmament,
and
the
Finnish scholar
T.
Varis,
who
discusses
the
role
the
Western
mass
media
play
in
the
process
of
d6tente.
Most
research
on
disarmament
problems
carried
out
in
non-socialist
countries
can
be
classified
in
accordance
with
one
of
the
follow-
ing
two
approaches:
In
the
first
approach
disarmament
policies
are
interpreted
as
tools
used
by
states
to
promote
their
general
foreign
policy.
From
this
point
of
view
there
is
no
necessary
con-
nection
between
disarmament
proposals
and
the
goal
of
disarmament.
The
second
approach
perceives
disarmament
as
the
problem
to
be
solved.
The
main
problem
is
the
answer
to
the
question:
’In
what
way
will
a
given
proposal
contribute
to
the
goal
of
disarmament?’
It
is
much
less
important
to
analyse
the
intentions
behind
a
given
disarmament
proposal.
The
following
quotation
from
the
paper
by
the
Finnish
scholar
Unto
Vesa
(p.
91)
illustrates
this
approach:
The
establishment
of
a
nuclear-weapon-free
zone
is
not
to
be
regarded
as
an
end
in
itself,
but
as
a
means
towards
the
wider
objectives
of
general
and
complete
disarmament
and
of
international
peace
and
security.
The
Finnish
contributions
strongly
reflect
the
second
approach;
exceptions
are
Pastinen’s
(p.
52)
and
Vesa’s
(p.
73)
evaluations
of
the
NPT
treaty.
The
main
benefit
of
the
treaty
according
to
them
is
that
it
contributes
significantly
to
d6tente
and
great
power
understanding.
This
may
be
a
correct
evaluation,
but
it
has
very
little
to
do
with
the
explicit
goal
of
the
treaty,
namely,
the
prevention
of
nuclear
proliferation.
The
Soviet
contributions
are
based
on
a
different
approach,
clearly
demonstrated
in
the
following
quotation
(p.
213):
Questions
of
consolidating
peace
and
interna-
tional
security
command
top
priority
in
the
Soviet
Union’s
foreign
policy
based
on
the
principle
of
peaceful
coexistence
which
reflects
the
essentially
peaceful
character
of
socialist
society
itself.
All
the
Soviet
papers
are
based
on
the
premise
that
Soviet
society,
unlike
non-socialist
societies,
is
peaceful
in
character.
From
this
premise
it
is
understandable
that
the
Soviet
approach
to
disarmament
is
a
mixture
of
the
two
approaches
already
outlined.
The
analyses
rely
on
the
second
approach,
when
the
Soviet
researcher
deals
with
disarmament
proposals
from
the
USSR
or
treaties
to
which
the
USSR
is
a
party,
and
it
is
taken
for
granted
that
the
subject
under
analysis
contributes
to
the
goal
of
disarmament.
On
the
other
hand,
when
the
Soviet
scholar
deals
with
proposals
which
do
not
have
the
support
of
the
Soviet
government
the
analysis
proceeds
from
the
premise
of
the
first
approach.
In
such
cases
the
motivations
for
a
given
policy
or
the
consequences
for
the
strategic
equilibrium
of
an
implementation
of
the
proposal
are
examined.
The
eleven
papers
are
characterized
by
a
very
strong
descriptive
element.
Vayrynen’s
contribution
on
the
world
disarmament
con-
ference
is
a
good
example.
The
paper
describes
the
position
of
a
number
of
states
towards
the
convening
of the
conference.
The
reader,
however,
is
left
with
a
lot
of
unanswered
questions:
For
example,
Why
are
the
USA
and
PRC
against
the
convening
of
the
conference?
What
do
the
Socialist
countries
and
the
group
of
77
expect
to
obtain
by
convening
the
con-
ference ?
The
Finnish
contributions
by
Pastinen
and

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