Book Reviews
| Date | 01 December 1957 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1957.tb01322.x |
| Published date | 01 December 1957 |
BOOK REVIEWS
Reflections on International Administration
By
A.
LOVEDAY.
Clarendon Press (Oxford), 1956. Pp.
xxi+334.
42s.
’Ib
first comment to be made
on
this
book is that it is indeed written from the
inside. It is no theoretical treatise; the
author has used his mature experience in
international administration to penetrate
to the essential issues, and to set out each
problem in the practical terms in which
it presents itself to the international civil
servant. One instance from the discussion
on
advisory committees-quite a minor
one--is an apt illustration. Should
an
advisory committee of experts appoint
from among its members a rapporteur
to frame its report? The answer is
unhesitatingly
“
No,”
and the reasons are
interesting. The average amateur rappor-
teur needs to keep his notes neat and
watertight as he goes
along,
and
this
need
hampers the discussion, some of which
may well need to be left ragged in the
early stages in the interest of fmal results.
Again, the clash between the rapporteur’s
duty to try and convince his colleagues
of the rightness of
his
own
views and
his duty
to
express the collective wisdom
of the committee will result in either too
little or
too
much bias
in
the report
towards the rapporteur’s
own
views
according to his lights. This particular
reflection could only come from someone
who has himself seen committees
at
work
and applied a critical
mind.
Mr.
Loveday has on the other hand
avoided scrupulously the dangers which
can
result from being too close to the
subject. He has been able to stand back
and
look
objectively at the post-war
developments of international administra-
tion. In his Introduction he sets out
the significant changes-the different
atmosphere, the new constitutional
procedures and machinery, and the use
to which the machinery
is
put. In the
light of these changes he has developed
his reflections round
two
main groups of
subjects-“ Personnel Policy
”
and
“
The
Machine
in
Motion.” His purpose has
been to deal only with those aspects of
administration which
an
international
setring
renders distinct.
In
this
way he
singles out for discussion in the first
group the qualities required in an inter-
national civil servant: the problems of
recruitment
;
the maintenance of morale
;
staff regulations and the methods of
enforcing them. Two chapters describing
the features peculiar to the life of an
international official and to his work give
the necessary background and are written
with insight and understanding.
The underlying problem which emerges
from the discussion in these
two
chapters
is that of an insecurity greater than any
national civil servant living
in
his own
country ever feels. The permanent
international official is cut
off
from
his
~tional culture and national life;
a
permanent guest, always
“
external to
the society in which he lives.”
As
his
children grow up he faces, early or late,
the breaking of family ties; either his
children are integrated into the local life
and culture, with the probability that they
will wish to make their lives there, or he
must send them home to school if he
is
not to prejudice their chances of taking up
life with ease in their
own
country.
As
he approaches the later part of his career
his preoccupation changes to his
own
position on retirement. What sort of life
can he lead in his
own
country to which
he
has
become a stranger? Finally, the
whole working atmosphere of an organisa-
tion whose future is bound up with the
uncertainties of international relations
tends to enhance
this
fundamental feeling.
An
interesting discussion follows of the
modern role of the international official.
Mr.
Loveday sees it still primarily in
terms of the diplomat whose main task
is the promotion
of
agreements between
countries with divergent viewpoints and
at
completely different stages of develop-
ment.
This
is modified,
but
still true,
for the specialised agencies, particularly
those which have executive jobs to
perform. Even
if
it
might perhaps be
modified a little more than the book
implies, for certain functions of the
United Nations which are concerned with
419
To continue reading
Request your trial