Book Review: International Politics and Economics: Doctrines of Imperialism
| Author | Jean-Baptiste Duroselle |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206602100312 |
| Date | 01 September 1966 |
| Published date | 01 September 1966 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
374
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
will
and
unity
to project
and expand
its
influence
is
like
a
tree
without
water-and
is
doomed
to
die.
He
proposes
to
make
NATO
the
nucleus
for
a
macro
alliance
or
baby
United
Nations
that
would
unite all
free
nations
in
combatting
communist
subversion
and
aggression.
Apart
from
factual
errors-NATO
in
its
pre-natal
state
can
hardly
be
held
responsible
for
failing to
provide
the
Netherlands with a
solution
in
the
conflict
over
Indonesian
independence-this
plan,
which reproduces
echoes
of
the early
Dulles
era
of
tight
bipolarity
seems
strangely
out
of
touch
with
present
reality.
In
contrast,
political
realism
is
the
tenor
which
marks
the
case
which
Norway's Undersecretary
Mr.
Boyesen,
makes
for
the
smaller
allies.
This
reveals
an
intuitive
scepticism
on
the subject
of
expanding
NATO'S
present military
commitments
and
of
creating a
separate
NATO
nuclear
force
or
selective
directorates,
which
would
threaten
to
split
the
Alliance
into
nuclear
"haves"
and
"have-nots"
without
providing
an acceptable
solution to
the
control
problem.
It is
an
approach
which
will be
assured
of
many
sympathizers
in
this
country
Carleton
University
HARALD
voN RIEKHOFF
DocnTRINs
or
ImPERIA-sm.
By
A.
P
Thornton.
1965.
(New
York:
John
Wiley
Toronto:
General
Publishing.
ix,
246pp.
Clothbound
$6.95.
Paperback
$3.50)
This
book
of
Professor
Thornton's
displays
a
vast
and
solid
back-
ground
in
history.
The
author,
a
historian
of
wide experience,
has
undertaken
to
present
systematically
a
certain number
of concepts
re-
garding
imperialism.
In
this
sense,
he
operates
like
a
political
scientist
-but
he
does
so
cautiously
supporting
his
arguments
with
basis
in
past
fact.
This
is
by
far
the
best
method.
Far
too
many
theoreticians
permit
themselves
to
formulate
hypotheses
or invent laws
with
careless
ease,
but without
regard for
historical
antecedents
or
for
the practic
ability
of
their
theories.
In
my
opinion,
the
historical method,
even
if
insufficient
taken
by
itself,
should
nontheless
be
the
groundwork
of
all
serious
research
in
the
field
of
international
relations.
Making
judicious use
of
this
method,
Professor Thornton
obtains
excellent
results.
He
rejects the
oversimplified
notion
that
imperialism
is
guided
by
only
one
category
of
factors-for
example,
according
to
Hobson,
or,
more
importantly,
Lenin,
in
the
era
of
monopolistic
capital-
ism,
the
imperialistic
state
is
preoccupied
with
the
necessity
of
creating
a
foreign
market
for
its
surplus capital.
Actually
the
imperialistic
system
far
antedates
capitalism,
with
its
monopolies.
It
also
existed
before
the
idea
of
colonialization.
It
is
a
facet
of
human
nature
which
has
existed
in
every
epoch
of
history
In
three
chapters,
the
author
demonstrates
that
imperialism
is
based
upon
a
Doctrine
of
Power,
a
Doctrine
of
Profit
and
a
Doctrine
of
Civilisation.
These
three
factors
are,
in
fact,
the
basic
motivational
forces
of
all
human
action-a
theory
which
I
myself
have
already had
occasion
to
develop.
Man
has
an instinctive
need
to
wield
power-a
need
which
is
by
no
means
confined
to
the ruling
classes
alone.
He
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