Book Reviews : Collective Security (Key Concepts in Political Science series) by Otto Pick & Julian Critchley. Macmillan 1974. £3.50
| Author | W. Horsfall Carter |
| Published date | 01 April 1976 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711787600500306 |
| Date | 01 April 1976 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
1045
BOOK
REVIEWS
Collective
Security
(Key
Concepts
in
Political
Science
series)
by
Otto
Pick
&
Julian
Critchley.
Macmillan
1974.
£3.50.
Collective
security
is,
alas,
a
shop-soiled
article.
The
concept
originated,
of
course,
in
a
somewhat
heedless
reaction
after
World
War
I
against
the
breakdown
of
the
vaunted
&dquo;balance
of
power&dquo;
system.
But
from
the
moment
when
the
United
States
pulled
out,
and
the
League
of
Nations,
despite
the
brave
words
of Articles
XI
and
XVI
of
the
Covenant,
foundered
in
the
Assembly
Resolution
of
October,
1921
- &dquo;It
is
the
duty
of
each
Member
of
the
League
to
decide
for
itself
whether
a
breach
of
the
Covenant
has
been
committed&dquo;
-
the
notion
of
each
for
all ...
was
doomed.
The
experience
of the
UN
has
only
confirmed
the
fact
that
the
essential
premise
of
mutual
confidence
on
a
global
scale
simply
does
not
exist.
Hence
we
are
thrown
back
on
the
pis-aller
of
regionalized
collective
self-defence
-
which
does
work,
after
a
fashion,
for
Europe
in
the
context
of the
nuclear
stalemate.
This
bicephalous
creation,
tailored
for
students
of
International
Relations,
makes
for
a
useful
contribution
to
the
subject.
Otto
Pick,
Professor
at
the
University
of
Surrey,
is
responsible
for
the
chapters
on
the
history
(and
the
theory)
of
the
existing
regional
alliance
systems;
Julian
Critchley
M.P.
supplies
a
case-history
of
British
foreign
policy
since
1945,
together
with
a
fairly
detailed
account
of
the
state
of
play
with
regard
to
the
various
current
sets
of
negotiation
i.e.
the
Conference
on
Security
and
Co-operation
culminating
in
the
Helsinki
Declaration
and
the
Mutual
Force
Reductions
(Vienna)
and
the
Strategic
Arms
Limitation
(Geneva)
Talks.
A
Postscript,
by
Mr.
Critchley,
focuses
on
Europe-American
and
intra-European
problems.
Otto
Pick
deals
specifi-
cally
with
the
consequences
for
the
system
of
the
unending
Middle
East
imbroglio.
Both
authors,
incidentally,
accept
the
fact
that,
like
it
or
not,
we
live
in
a
world
of
independent
-
however
interdependent
-
States:
that
any
idea of
a
world
government
in
the
foreseeable
future
is
moon-
shine.
Also,
while
recognizing
that
there
are
plenty
of
people
who
&dquo;genuinely
object
on
moral
grounds
to
the
whole
apparatus
of
military
preparedness&dquo;,
that
view
has
to
be
discounted
in
any
appraisal
of
the
realities
of
international
politics.
Julian
Critchley
has
a
useful
reminder
for
us
that
those
who
&dquo;took
Britain
into
Europe&dquo;
have
knowingly
dented
the
principal
dogma
of
British
foreign
policy
since
the
War,
which
was
the
necessity
of
the
Atlantic
alliance;
and
it
is
a
fair
point
that
relations
between
States
have
become
increasingly
economic.
In
Britain’s
case
&dquo;as
the
trappings
of
Empire
vanished&dquo;,
and
therewith
the
scope
for
independent
political
action,
the
objective
is
no
longer
the
enhancement
of
national
sovereignty
(whatever
that
means)
but
the
pursuit
of
national
welfare
in
economic
and
social
terms.
Yet,
for
the
world
as
a
whole,
power-politics
is
the
rule,
and
even
for
Europe,
where
there
is
now
a
rough-and-ready
equilibrium
of
forces
and
political
will,
détente
is
little
more
than
a
new
framework
for the
old
battle.
Otto
Pick’s
Postscript
accurately
reflects
the
&dquo;image
of
panic
and
disarray&dquo;
revealed
by
the
Middle
East
crisis
of
October
1973
-
&dquo;the
almost
total
conflict
of
interests
between
the
U.S.
and
Western
Europe&dquo;;
and
all
the
counsel
he
can
offer
is
the
dire
need
for
improvement
in
co-ordinated
contingency
planning
and
prior
political
consultation.
W.
Horsfall
Carter
United
Nations
Journal
by
William
F.
Buckley
Jr.
Michael
Joseph
(
1975
).
£5.50.
A
Nixon
nominee
as
&dquo;public
delegate&dquo;
in
the
150-strong
United
States
representation
at
the 28th
General
Assembly
of
the
UN
in
1973,
William
F.
Buckley
Jr. - the
scourge
of
liberals
and
progressives
of
all
hues - was
certainly
a
surprise
appointment.
He
was
persuaded
to
accept
the
job
(provided
that
it
didn’t
interfere
overmuch
with
his
syndicated
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