Book Reviews : Storm Over the Multinationals: The Real Issues. Raymond Vernon. Macmillan Press £10.00
| Date | 01 October 1979 |
| Published date | 01 October 1979 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711787900600414 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
720
Bahro
notes
that
Lenin
developed
AMP
because
the
1905
Revolution
in
Russia
(a
semi-Asiatic
society)
was
followed
by
similar
events
in
Turkey,
Persia,
China,
India,
and
Indonesia.
Lenin
saw
Europe
as
following
Asia’s
pattern
of
change
(p.55).
Bahro
sees
the
’revolutionary
process’
in
Africa
and
India
leading
to
socialism
by
the
shortest
route.
Strangely,
Bahro
does
not
notice
the
role
of
Islam
in
this
’revolutionary
process’;
and
when
he
sees
a
conflict
coming
between
the
counter-revolutionary
imperialism
of
the
West
and
the
revolutionary
and
nationalistic
East,
he
does
not,
again,
note
the
presence
of
Islam.
But he
makes
a
very
shrewd
point
when
he
says
that
AMP
did
not
dissolve
into
capitalism
in
non-European
’feudal’
societies;
Islamic
societies
would
seem
to
prove
the
point.
This
book
is
an
attempt
to
defend
a
system
which
is
likely
to
retain
power
over
the
mass
mind
for
a
long
time.
Bahro’s defence
takes
the
form
of
a
commendation
of
interesting
theories
to
English
speaking
intel-
lectuals.
He
is
concerned
with
the
demoralising
effects
of
’actually
existing
socialism’
on
the
Soviet
armed
forces.
He
believes
in
the
superiority
of
NATO.
He
deplores
the
division
of
labour
which
has
led
to
communist
dictatorship
in
Poland
and
East
Germany-as
if
the
dictatorship
does
not
inevitably
exist!
But
any
Westerner
who
thinks
that
this
book
for
its
fancifulness
should
be
ignored
is
mistaken.
Bahro
offers
the
West
an
opportunity
to
see
big
issues
in
a
new
light,
as
well
as
a
typical
instance
of
the
inhibitions
placed
on
a
mind
regimented
by
Marxism.
He
writes
yell,
or
at
least
he
has
had
a
very
good
translator.
The
use
which
he
has
made
of
history
and
economics,
particularly
where
they
concern
the
New
International
Economic
Order,
must
be
taken
very
seriously.
—M.
R.
Brett-Crowther.
Storm
Over
the
Multinationals:
The
Real
Issues.
Raymond
Vernon.
Macmillan
Press
£10.00.
The
author
is
Director
of
the
Centre
for
International
Affairs
and
Herbert
F.
Johnson
Professor
of
International
Business
Management
at
Harvard
University.
His
credentials
could
therefore
hardly
be
better
for
the
task
he
has
set
himself
in
a
field
liberally
sprinkled
with
dynamite.
His
opening
words
are
not
only
fitting
but
could
indeed
be
applied
to
the
larger
scene:
&dquo;The
world
we
are
obliged
to
inhabit,
it
sometimes
seems,
is
managed
by
a
deity
with
an
exceedingly
wry
sense
of
humour.
This
is
a
century
in
which
technological
forces
have
pushed
nation
states
together
and
sharply
reduced
their
autonomy.
It
is
also
a
century
in
which
national
governments
have
taken
on
the
novel
and
difficult
task
of
actively
trying
to
promote
the
welfare
of
ordinary
people&dquo;.
To
which
might
be
added
that
the
changes
are
being
sought
on an
impossible
time-scale,
in
conjunction
with
catastrophically
differing
cultural
and
social
backgrounds.
While
emphasising
the
close
identification
of
the
multinationals
with
the
industrial
process
itself,
with
all
its
attendant
benefits
and
drawbacks,
inter
alia
the
claim
by
many
firms
that
&dquo;their
befouling
of
the
evironment
is
in
the
public
interest&dquo;,
he
goes
on
to
point
out
that
&dquo;Hegemony,
cor-
ruption,
inequity,
pollution,
and
indifference
to
consumer
interests
were
endemic
in
mankind’s
history
long
before
the
multinational
enterprises
existed&dquo;.
In
addition
he
stresses
that
&dquo;Although
their
degree
and
style
differ
from
one
country
to
the
next,
these
(continuing)
disconcerting
features
of
contemporary
life
are
endemic
in
the
Soviet
Union
and
Eastern
Europe
where
multinational
enterprises
are
virtually
barred,
and
are
pro-
minent
in
Japan,
India,
Nigeria
and
Mexico
where
multinational
enter-
prises
are
’substantially
restrained’.
Attempts
to
curb
their
growing
power
have
been
the
development
of
international
’cartels’
such
as
OPEC
and
associations
of
states,
as
in
the
Andean
Pact
and
the
Group
of
Seventy
Seven
and
the
Centre
on
Transnational
Corporations,
which
largely
operates
through
the
organs
of
the
United
Nations.
But
an
additional
cause
of
distrust
is
the
fact
that
by
their
very
nature,
these
conglomerate
enterprises
have
their
facilities
spread
over
a
number
of
countries
whose
political
and
economic
objectives
may
be
entirely
different
or even
opposed.
Multinational
companies
now
play a
large
role
in
the
national
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