Book Reviews : And End to Political Science. The Caucus Papers. Edited by Marvin Surkin and Alan Wolfe. Basic Books. £3.70
| Date | 01 August 1972 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711787200400319 |
| Published date | 01 August 1972 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
323
Roy
Price
briefly
reviews
the
politics
of
co-operation
and
integration
in
Western
Europe
and
points
out
a
number
of
areas
where
further
studies
of
the
processes
involved
are
required,
inter
alia,
the
political
aspects
of
the
Community’s
external
relations,
and
Michael
Kaser
performs
the
same
service
for
contemporary
political,
economic
and
social
studies
in
the
Soviet
Union
and
Eastern
Europe.
In
&dquo;Touching
the
Tiger’s
Buttocks -
Western
Scholarship
and
the
Cold
War
in
Asia&dquo;,
John
Gittings,
following
a
quotation
from
Toynbee
that
to
most
Europeans
&dquo;America
now
looks
the
most
dangerous
country
in
the
world&dquo;,
takes
a
long
look
at
the
rela-
tions
between
the
United
States,
China
and
Vietnam.
&dquo;Three
features
stand
out
strikingly
for
any
serious
student
of
international
affairs
in
post-war
Asia.
First,
the
replacement
of
the
colonial
powers
by
the
much
greater
might
of
the
United
States;
second,
the
rebirth
of
a
United
China;
and
third,
the
vast
increase
in
political
self-awareness
and
articulateness
on
the
part
of the
masses
of
Asia&dquo;.
His
interesting
and
provocative
essay
is
devoted
to
proving
that
it
is
high
time
to
take
a
fresh
look
at
the
origins
and
course
of
the
Cold
War
in
Asia,
and
particularly
the
American
part
in
i~t,
&dquo;it
is
never
too
late
to
start
revising
myths
and
taming
tigers&dquo;.
Hugh
Tinker
in
&dquo;The
Colonial
Backlash&dquo;
illuminates
some
of the
shortcomings
in
contemporary
South Asian
Studies,
both
Western
and
Asian,
shortcomings
still
more
strange
in
view
of
the
fact
that
&dquo;China
and
India
are
the
two
world
giants,
two
or
three
times
larger
than
the
super-
powers,
the
United
States
and
the
Soviet
Union,
in
terms
of
population&dquo;,
and
deplores
equally
the
lack of
such
studies
by
western
and
eastern
scholars.
In
particular
the
fact
that
such
studies
as
have
been
undertaken
are
western
orientated
in
outlook
and
viewpoint
is
most
unfortunate.
In
the
shifting
political
balance,
externally
and
internally,
in
the
region,
there
is
a
continued
and
indeed
urgent
need
for
systematic
studies
of
Soviet
and
Sino-Soviet
relations
with
South
Asia
&dquo;The
sun
has
set
on
the
Brutish
Empire;
the
J.
F.
Dulles
hegemony
has
dissolved
in
the
presidency
of
Richard
Nixon;
but
the
colonial
backlash
still
remains
a
factor,
in
the
political
reality
as
well
as
the
academic
study
of
South
Asia&dquo;.
Finally
Roger
Morgan’s
essay
is
an
analysis
and
appreciation
of
the
methods
and
role
of
foreign
policy
analysis,
strategic
studies
and
futurology
as
these
relate
not
only
to
theoretical
studies
in
international
relations
but
to
real
events
in
the
world.
And
End
to
Political
Science.
The
Caucus
Papers.
Edited
by
Marvin
Surkin
and
Alan
Wolfe.
Basic
Books.
£3.70.
The
theme
of
this
book
is
that
the
existing
discipline
of
political
science,
as
taught
in
American
universities,
is
both
irrelevant
to
the
real
issues
in
American,
and
indeed
international,
society
today
and,
partly
as
a
result
of
its
governmental
links
through
grants
from
the
CIA,
the
Department
of
Defense
and
the
Foundations,
geared
to
perpetuating
the
dominant
institutional
and
ideological
interests
of
American
society.
In
a
word
&dquo;political
science&dquo;
is
indicted
as
being
&dquo;the
handmaiden
of the
counter-revolutionary
reflex
of
America
in
its
policies
at
home
and
abroad&dquo;.
In
fact
&dquo;research
was
being
used
not
to
serve
the
interests
of
the
poor
and
oppressed
round
the
world,
but
to
serve
the
interests
of
the
U.S.
Govern-
ment
and
the
corporate
establishment
for
whom
political
science
was
a
most
valuable
strategic
tool&dquo;.
From
which
it
would
seem
to
emerge
not
that
the
protest
is
against
political
science
being
biased
but
in
favour
of
its
reconstruction
on
a
different
bias.
Be
that
as
it
may,
the
book
gives
an
interesting
and
vivid
account
of
the
Marxist-New
Left
revolt
in
a
section
of the
academic
world
and
in
parts
of
American
society
at
large.
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