Book Review: Western Europe: European and Atlantic Co-Operation: The Dutch Attitude
| Date | 01 December 1965 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206502000429 |
| Published date | 01 December 1965 |
| Author | Ronald S. Ritchie |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REVIEWS
557
EUROPEAN
AND
ATLANTIC
Co-OPERATION:
THE
DuTcH
ATTITUDE.
By
L.
G.
M.
Jaquet.
1965.
(The Hague:
Martinus
Nijhoff.
263pp.
14. 50
Dutch
guilders)
This
work
is
actually
a
special issue
of
Internationale
Spectator,
a
periodical
published
by
the
Netherlands
Institute
of
International
Af-
fairs.
It
brings
together
papers
by
twenty
informed
and
experienced
contributors, together
with a
foreword
by
the
Netherlands Minister
for
Foreign
Affairs
and
an
introduction
by
the
editor.
As
the
latter
ob-
serves,
each
paper
"gives
a
Dutch
view",
although
none
represents
the
official
Dutch
position.
To
Canadian
ears,
positions
taken
are
stated
in
firm
but moderate
tones,
the
analyses
are
often
perceptive
and
revealing,
and
judgments
and
proposals
pragmatic
and
balanced.
Perhaps
because
Holland
is
so
very
much
a
part
of
the
process
of
European
integration,
the
papers
often
reveal
a
dimension
which
is
lacking
in
some
Canadian
discussion
of
the
same
topics.
The
various
contributors raise
essentially
the
same
basic
questions.
What
are
the
requirements
for
continued
progress
toward
an
integrated
Europe? What
are
the
obstacles
and
how
fast
and
in
what
direction
should
progress
now
be
sought? Is
an
integrated
Europe compatible
with Atlantic
co-operation?
In
case
of
conflict,
where
should
the
priority
be
given?
E.
H.
Van
Der
Beugel,
in
a
perceptive
historical
analysis of
the
United
States'
contribution
to
European
unity
efforts,
concludes
that
many
of
the
underlying assumptions
of
United
States
postwar
policy
in
this
respect
are
not
self-evident.
For
instance,
the
basic
assumption
that
European
unity
must,
by definition,
contribute
to
Atlantic
co-
hesion
"is
not
true
under
all
circumstances". The question
of depend-
ence,
independence,
or
inter-dependence
for
Western Europe in
relation
to
the
United
States
is
assessed
by
contributor
after
contributor
and
always with
the
same
ultimate
answer.
The
countries
of
Western
Europe,
whether
singly
or
collectively,
must
have
more
of
the
equality
which
goes
with
partnership
but
should
not
be
misled
into
a
dangerous
search
for
unachievable
independence.
In
the
eyes
of
some,
growing
European
unity
can
contribute
to
the
desirable
equality
with
the
United
States
but not
all
see
equality and
partnership
as
a
function
of
similar
size.
This
special issue would
be
worth
while
for
two
of
its
chapters
alone,
Dr.
H.
Brugmans'
"The
European
Policy
of
President
de Gaulle"
and
Dr.
C.
L.
Patijn's
"Germany
and
the
European
Future".
Brugmans
takes
what
he
calls
an
independent
view
of
the French
President-a
view
which
is
summarized
in
his
statement,
"Hardly
any
other
public
figure
has
ever
been
so
inspiring
and
so
disappointing
at
the
same
time".
He
points
to
de
Gaulle's
real
contributions.
He
also
charges
that
de
Gaulle's
"partners"
have usually
failed
to
find
the
real
weaknesses
in
Gaullist
positions
and
have
often
used
mistaken
and
inconsistent
arguments against
them.
A
chapter
by
Dirk
Stikker,
the
former
Sec-
retary
General
of
NATO,
although
otherwise disappointing,
reveals
a
fascinating
story
of his
relations
with
the
French and
de
Gaulle.
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