Book Reviews : States in a Changing World. A Contemporary Analysis edited by Robert H. Jackson and Alan James. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. 377pp. £45.00 cloth; £13.95 paper
| Published date | 01 December 1995 |
| Author | Vladimir Matveev |
| Date | 01 December 1995 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711789501200609 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
110
acceptance
of
marketization
and
some
other
Western
values
is
therefore
no
foregone
conclusion.
The
future
of
the
reform
process
looks
somewhat
less
than
secure.
The
authors
of
this
book,
for
one
reason
or
another,
have
preferred
to
ignore
the
existence
of
this
school
of
thought,
probably
because
they
were
not
seeking
to
analyse
the
historical
destiny
of Russia.
Their
task
was
more
limited.
It
was
to
cast
a
fresh
glance
at
past
and
present
reforms
in
Russia
in
the
social
and
political
spheres.
This
they
have
skilfully
done,
revealing
factors
and
tendencies
which
could
at
last
break
the
vicious
circle
of
Russian
history.
They
present
strong
arguments
in
favour
of
Russia’s
future
social
and
economic
progress
which
should
place
her
within
the
community
of
democratic
and
most-developed
nations.
We
may
only
hope
that
their
optimistic
predic-
tion
comes
true.
Institute
of International
Relations
Moscow
VLADIMIR
MATVEEV
States
in
a
Changing
World.
A
Contemporary
Analysis
edited
by
Robert
H.
Jackson
and
Alan
James.
Oxford:
Clarendon
Press,
1995.
377pp.
£45.00
cloth;
£13.95
paper.
The
twentieth
century,
particularly
in
its
second
half,
has
witnessed
an
unprecedented
demand
for
independent
statehood
in
virtually
all
parts
of
the
world.
Yet,
the
interna-
tional
implications
of
this
striving
for
sovereignty
have
not
yet
received
adequate
coverage
in
the
literature.
This
book,
written
by
noted
scholars
from
Great
Britain,
the
United
States,
Canada
and
Australia,
most
definitely
fills
the
gap.
The
authors’
main
aim
is
to
define
whether
international
relations
will
in
future
be
pursued
by
fully
independent
states,
as
in
the
past,
or
alternatively,
whether
the
new
quality
and
quantity
of
international
cooperation
might
eventually
lead
to
a
withering
away
of
the
nation
state.
This
is,
to
my
knowledge,
the
first
comprehensive,
up-to-date
survey
of
the
experience
of
each
of
the
world’s
eleven
geopolitical
regions
in
a
logical
liaison
with
the
analysis
of
the
general
features
of
the
modern
states
system
as
a
whole.
Both
facets
of
research
are
inseparable.
The
dramatic
changes
of
the
twentieth
century
have
pro-
duced
the
’global
village’
phenomenon,
that
is
the
globalization
of
independent
statehood
and,
respectively,
of
all
states’
participation
in
world
affairs.
At
the
same
time,
as
the
authors
remark
in
the
first
chapter,
’the
society
of
states
is
still
(strictly
speaking)
an
ungoverned
order’.
There
is
still
nothing like
a
world
authority
which
is
independent
of
the
world’s
states
and
superior
to
them.
The
idea
is
hardly
tolerated
even
in
the
states
of
the
European
Union
which
are
presently
closest
to
an
international
government
of
substance.
This
factor
merits
a
separate
and
careful
analysis
of
the
dif-
ferent
practices
and
trends
in
all
the
world’s
regions
which
is
skilfully
undertaken
by
the
authors
in
the
second
part
of
the
book.
The
regions
are
defined
according
to
established
conventions
of
international
theory
and
practice.
They
consist
of
Western
Europe,
Eastern
Europe,
the
Middle
East
and
North
Africa,
Sub-Saharan
Africa,
South
Asia,
South-East
Asia,
North-East
Asia,
Oceania,
Latin
America,
the
Caribbean
and
North
America.
While
the
chapters
are
written
by
different
authors,
the
methods
of
analysis,
structure
and
even
style
of
the
essays
are
all
quite
similar.
The
extremely
careful
approach
to
selection
of
abundant
material
allows
the
authors
to
present
the
most
symptomatic
and
prospective
trends
and,
simultaneously,
make
their
contributions
both
concise
and
informative.
Having
read
all
the
regional
chapters,
one
cannot
escape
the
conclusion
that
the
stronger
the
tendencies
of
cooperation
and
integration,
the
lower
the
death-rate
of
states.
Thus,
the
26
states
of
Western
Europe
remain
fully
sovereign
and
therefore
diplomatic
equals
in
international
relations
both
in
and
outside
Europe,
Yet,
the
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