Book Reviews : The Costs of the Common Agricultural Policy, Allan E. Buckwell, David R. Harvey, Kenneth J. Thomson and Kevin A. Parton, Croom Helm, 1982, £12.95
| Date | 01 October 1982 |
| Published date | 01 October 1982 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711788200700410 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
2244
however,
in
the
future
provoke
a
catastrophe
is
if
the
western
powers
give
a
greater
impression
that
they
are
increasingly
divided
on
vital-or
even
not
so
seemingly
vital-issues
and,
as
a
result,
infirm
of purpose.
More
especially
if
the Soviet
threat
became
a
reality
as
a
result
of possible
action
by
a
Third
World
power in
possession
of
nuclear
weapons=but
at
the
moment
this
is
a
more
remote
possibility.
The
one
persisting
advantage
that
the
Soviets
possess,
and
absolutely
docile
population.
cannot
be
matched
by
the
west
which
might,
in
the
worst
event,
prove
difficult
to
counter.
It
would
also
reinforce
the
&dquo;possibility
of
successful
strategic
deception
and
surprise&dquo;.
Part
One
of
the
book
is
devoted
to
consideration
of
the
theory
of
risk-taking
while
Part II
is
devoted
to
Case
Studies,
largely
against
the
background
of
the
Berlin Crises
of
1948
and
1961.
This
is
an
indispensable
study
to
those
concerned
with
Soviet
behaviour
in
the
international
field.
Russian
at
the
Crossroads
consists
of
a
collection
of
essays
by
a
number
of
American
specialists in
Soviet Affairs
dealing with
ih« 261h
Congress
of
the
CPU.
In
view
of
the
very
recent
events
following
the
sudden
death
of
Brezhnev
an
opening
statement
in
the
Introduction
is
of
special
interest.
&dquo;At
the
moment
when
the
country
stood
before
some
of
the
most
difficult
problems
it
has
faced
since
World
War
II
the
Party
leaders
chose
to
stage
an
elaborate
non-event.
So
familiar
were
the
faces,
so
well
worn
the
speeches
that
political
life
seemed
unnaturally
suspended.&dquo;
Now
this
&dquo;curious
calm&dquo;
has
already
been
broken
by
the
speeding
up
of
an
approach
to
a
reconciliation
with
China
and
Andropov’s
apparent
assertion
that
he
was
against
the
Afghanistan
adventure
but
was
over-ruled.
The
editors
go
on
to
say
&dquo;In
the
Soviet
Union
of
the
1980s,
economic
and
political
issues,
and
domestic
and
foreign
ones.
are
more
intricately
connected
to
one
another
than
at
any
previous
period
in
Soviet
history.
Soviet
policy-makers
face
not
only
the
complexity
of an
advanced,
late-industrial
economy,
but
also
unprecedented
shortages
of
natural
resources.
capital
and
manpower.
Not
since
the
1920s
has
the
Kremlin
had
to
wrestle
with
the
problem
ofeconomic
stagnation.
Not
since
the
first
Five-Year
Plan have
the
Soviet
leaders
been
so
dependent
on
the
West
for
technology
and
industrial
equipment
as
they
will
be
during
the
1980s,
especially
in
energy&dquo;.
The
10
essays
deal
with
The
International
and
Internal
Contexts
of
the
26th
Party
Congress:
Changes
in
Soviet
Elite
Composition:
Reformism.
Conservatism
and
Leadership
Authority
at
the
26th
Party
Congress:
The
Eleventh
Five-Year
Plan.
1981-85:
Soviet
Agricultural
Plans
for
1981-85;
Soviet
Energy
Policy
from
Big
Coal
to
Big
Gas:
Reform
and
Technological
Innovation
in
the
Ilth
Five-Year
Plan:
The
26th
Pnrty
Congress
and
Soviet
Foreign
Policy:
the
Soviet
Stake
in
Eastern
Europe.
A
final
contribution
surveys
and
sums
up
the
differing
views
which
emerged
during
the
discussions
based,
in
general,
on
whether
or
not
the
writer
accepted
the
contention
that
the
USSR
was
actually
at
the
crossroads
or
whether
the
existing
policies
would
survive
intact
&dquo;The
outcome
of
the
leadership
succession&dquo;
(now
settled).
&dquo;the
performance
of
the
economy
and
the
conduct
of
Soviet
foreign
policy
and
particularly
the
management
of
the
East
European
Empire
will
resolve
the
uncertainty
which
marked
the
26th
Congress ... Thus while
the
Soviet
Union
may or
may
not
reach
a
crossroads
during
the
1980s,
a
crossroads
in
Soviet
studies
is
surely
to
be
expected&dquo;.
A
conclusion
that
is
even
more
pregnant
now
than
when
it
was
written.
The
Costs
of
the
Common
Agricultural
Policy,
Allan
E.
Buckwell,
David
R.
Harvey,
Kenneth
J.
Thomson
and
Kevin
A.
Parton,
Croom
Helm,
1982,
£12.95.
To
the
layman,
the
Common
Agricultural
Policy
(CAP)
is
of
inordinate
complexity,
and
with
an
end
result
of
ever
higher
prices,
butter
mountains,
wine
lakes,
and
cut-price
sales
abroad,
especially
to
the
Soviet
Union.
This
book
by
members
(past
and
present)
of
the
Department
of
Agricultural
Economics
at
Newcastle
University
seeks
to
place
the
CAP
in
its
national
and
European
Community
contexts
and
to
examine
the
pressures
for
reform.
Its
points
out
that
the
Community
budget
has
grown
at
the
considerable
rate
of22
per
cent
p.a.
while
still
accounting
for
less
than
I
per
cent
of
Community
GNP.
With
agricultural
spending
rarely
as
low
as
70
per cent of the
Budget
it
is
not
surprising
to
find
that
the
authors’
underlying
belief
is
that
&dquo;both
the
growth
of
the
Community
budget
and
the
distribution
of
the
benefits
and
burdens
arising
from
the
budget
are
inextricably
linked
to
the
Common
Agricultural
Policy&dquo;
(p.5).
It
is
logical
therefore
that
solutions
to
budgetary
problems
can
only
be
found
in
the
CAP
and
not
in
the
budget
as
such. The
problem
is,
ofcourse,
that
the
CAP.
for
all
its
flaws,
is
so
widely
seen
(particularly
outside
the
U.K.
in
Europe)
as a
pillar
of
the
Community.
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