Book Review: Islamic Society and the West, Islam in Modern History, Middle Eastern Economic Relations with the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Mainland China
| Published date | 01 April 1959 |
| Date | 01 April 1959 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/004711785900101112 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
~~
aggre~ion
...
For
us
to
face courageously the obstacles to success even when
ey
ternfy us may, in the long run be more fruitful
of
results.
..
Awareness
~nd
truth together may not alone suffice as foundations
of
justice between
tate~,
~ut
they must
at
least be essential parts
of
these
foundations".
tThis IS amasterly study
of
amost difficult
and
involved subject. In his preface
he
author states
that
the
book
was originally intended for three main groups
of
~ders,
those interested in International affairs, the specialists
of
the law schools
anffi
department
of
government
of
the Universities
and
the legal
and
diplomatic
oeel'S
of
foreign offices
and
United Nations delegations.
To
these he added
a.
fOurth, teachers in advanced courses in international law
and
politics. Now,
sl~~e
the Sixth Committee has ended its debate
on
the definition
of
aggression
wr
arecommendation
that
further study should be undertaken
on
the basis
°t
ndew
Government comments
it
may well make amajor contribution
to
such
s u
y.
t
As
the
Chapter
headings show the problem
is
exhaustively dealt with. In
the
SPace
available it
is
not possible
to
do
more than mention them, The Quest
~r
Definition
of
Aggression, League
of
Nations Quest, United Nations Quest,
p
~r~ssion
and
Words, Aggression
and
The Charter, Aggression
and
Power
CO!UJ~S,
Aggression
and
International Morality, Aggression
and
Individual
~mmality,
Aggression
and
the Authority
of
the General Assembly, ending
wUh
ADiscourse
on
aUnited Nations Peace Force
and
the Authority
of
the
General Assembly. An Appendix adds Selected Draft Definitions
of
Aggression
and the book is furnished with excellent indexes.
Islamic Society and the West. AStudy
of
the Impact
of
Western Civilisation
°E~
Moslem Culture in the
Near
East. Vol.
1.
Part
Il-Islamic
Society in the
Ighteenth Century. H. A. R.
Gibb
and
Harold Bowen, London, New York,
TAor~nto.
Oxford University Press for the Royal Institute
of
International
trail'S,
35s.
'loslam
In
Modern History. Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Princeton University Press.
ndon Oxford University Press,
4Os.
~~~e
Eastern Economic Relations with the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and
W
"~nd
China.
Robert
Loring Allen. Preface by Rowland Egger. Woodrow
Jlson
Dept.
of
Foreign Affairs, University
of
Virginia,
31.
What new shocks can
we
expect in the Middle
East?
Will oil be nationalised
throughout the
region?
What will be President Nasser's next
move?
What
A.
fUtur~
political developments can be looked for in Syria, the Lebanon. Saudi
.rabla,
Iraq?
These,
and
many other questions are now
of
crucial
and
general
Interest as the Moslem countries in their turn become the centre
of
the world's
struggle.
The best
of
these four books, the second
and
concluding part
of
an Introduction
to what
is
intended as asurvey
of
the transformation
of
Moslem society
in
the
~ear
East under the influence
of
European civilisation, gives the historical
ackground essential
if
present developments are to be understood. The first
chapter on taxation
and
finance properly belongs
to
the earlier volume, the rest
of the book
is
devoted
to
astudy
of
the religious institutions which were the
fabric
of
the
Empire-the
Corps
of
Ulema who prescribed the moral principles
gUiding
the community, the Courts which administered the sacred law, the
SchOols
which trained the Ulema
and
the Judges, the religious endowments
~hich
supported the schools and mosques, the Dervish brotherhoods for whom
/laf!! meant far more than mere observance
of
the Law,
and
the Christian
and
eWlsh
sects which come under its protection.
in amodest prefatory note the authors say that the recent opening
of
the
Ottoman archives
is
bound to modify
or
correct the conclusions they have
reached
and
hope that the work will be useful as ageneral survey "until such time
as
our
successors will be able
to
re-write it".
On the contrary asurvey such as theirs is absolutely necessary if such archives
are to be used
to
the fullest advantage by future research workers since, without
the relevant knowledge
of
what to look for, archives are atrap for the unwary.
583
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