Book Reviews : International Relations in a Changing World, by J. Frankel. Series OPUS, Oxford University Press, 1979. £4.95 hardback; £2.25 paperback, 218pp
| DOI | 10.1177/004711787900600412 |
| Published date | 01 October 1979 |
| Date | 01 October 1979 |
| Author | M.R. Brett-Crowther |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
718
their
experience
of
work
in
Palestine
during
the
Mandate.
There
is,
in
fact,
a
wealth
of
ideas
for
research
by
means
of
oral
history
and
the
more
formal
evidences
of
contemporary
history.
The
Academy,
having
brought
so
many
opportunities
forward,
should
now
seek
to
organize
some
work
which
puts
contemporary
history
in
touch
with
the
new
issues
opened
up
by
the
Egypt-Israel
agreements
and
the
continuing
difficulties
of
adjustment
to
the
twentieth
century
which
characterise
the
Islamic
states
of
the
Middle
East.
As
the
Academy’s
elder
Sister
proclaims,
Nullius
in
verba.
—M.
R.
Brett-Crowther.
International
Relations
in
a
Changing
World,
by
J.
Frankel.
Series
OPUS,
Oxford
University
Press,
1979.
£4.95
hardback;
£2.25
paperback,
218pp.
Frankel
was
formerly
Professor
of
Politics,
Southampton
University.
This
book
reproduces
much
of
an
earlier
edition
(1964),
but
is
virtually
a
new
book.
Frankel’s
tone
is
sober,
impartial
and
modest;
his
content
is
well
conceived
and
attractive.
The
form
is
a
collection
of
analyses.
He
describes
a
’model’
view,
the
well
rounded
view
taken
by
those
who
understand
the
limitations
of
post-war
Britain.
But
his
is
a
’model’
view
in
another
sense.
For
example,
his
discussion
of
justice
and
international
morality
(pp.173ff)
sees
that
for
states
’Morality
constitutes
only
a
vague
corrective
to
their
behaviour,
perhaps
most
concretely
by
providing
advanced
standards
for
the
interpretation
and
evolution
of
international
law.
He
sees
(p.172)
that
legitimacy
for the
superpowers
is
tantamount
to
whim
and
so
may
be
expressed
as
unjust
demands.
Yet
he
thinks
that
’a
vague
obligation
to
respect
some
basic
human
rights’
may
at
length
become
’a
generally
accepted
norm
of
international
morality.’
There
are
many
handy
discussions,
written
in
the
manner
of
a
good
encyclopaedia,
and
the
opposing
factors
in
his
account
will
seldom
give
rise
to
a
sardonic
response.
He
well
knows
how
complicated
the
world
is,
and
how
difficult
is
any
change.
This
is
well
illustrated
by
his
studies
of
the
United
States,
the
Soviet
Union,
and
China;
of
the
P.L.O.,
M.N.C’s,
OPEC,
and
the
balance
of
power
concept.
There
is
nothing
in
the
book
which
an
interested
reader
would
find
obscure;
nothing
which
an
ex-
perienced
reader
would
find
a
false
simplication.
Students
of
world
politics
or
international
relations
would
greatly
profit
by
reading
a
book
so
disciplined.
Perhaps
the
main
fault
is
the rather
Euro-centric
or
conventional
character
of
the
subject,
for
this
makes
it
easy
for
tearaway
’critics’
to
be
disapproving.
Indeed,
though
India
has
figured
as
well
as
China
in
the
general
thinking,
the
Pacific
region
is
not
very
conspicuous,
nor
Latin
America.
Frankel
does
not
raise
questions
about
the
impact
of
resources,
viewed
ecologically,
on
policy.
These
matters
of
course
need
individual
champions,
and
Frankel
assumes
that
’non-state
actors’,
such
as
Andrew
Carnegie,
Count
von
Rosen
and
Bertrand
Russell,
have
a
limited
scope
in
international
politics.
Yet
Frankel’s
discussion
of
the
U.N.
and
of
the
importance
of
public
opinion
shows
that
a
good
initiative
from
a
’non-
state
actor’
may
be
far
more
desirable
than
an
ordinary
one
from
a
state.
Frankel’s
view
of
risk-taking
(p.150)
shows
that
he
thinks
of
it
as
a
sort
of
evil.
But
perhaps
the
real
risks
taken
by
the
superpowers
are
risks
of
the
imagination,
risks
to
prestige
which
are
designed
to
serve
peace?
This
seems
to
be
implied
by
some
of
the
references
to
crisis.
A
lesser
fault
is
that
page
references
in
his
index
do
not
all
tally
with
the
actual
pages.
This
valuable
book
should
be
a
good
introduction
to
anyone
who
wonders
why
this
Institute
continues
loyal
to
its
commitment;
or
why
the
U.N.
does.
—M.
R.
Brett-Crowther.
The
Alternative
in
Eastern
Europe,
by
Rudolf
Bahro.
NLB,
1978,
£9.50,
463pp.
Bahro
is
a
dissident
East
German
Marxist,
whose
imprisonment
has
been
seen
by
some
in
the
West
as
an
equivalent
to
the
plight
of
Sakharov
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