Book Reviews : The Future of Sea Power by Eric Grove. London: Routledge, 1990. 280pp
| Published date | 01 May 1991 |
| Date | 01 May 1991 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711789101000311 |
| Author | James Cable |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
285
and
30s,
Michael
Kaser’s
analysis
and
statistical
appendices
show
that
in
present
conditions
each
side
represents
only
one
per
cent
of
the
other’s
foreign
trade
turnover.
One
of
the
early
manifestations
of
the
Cold
War
was
the
specific
embargo
on
sales
to
the
USSR
and
its
allies
in
the
Council
for
Mutual
Economic
Assistance
through
the
Coordinating
Committee
for
Multilateral
Export
Controls
(COCOM),
which
had
its
parallel
in
Soviet
withdrawal
from
international
economic
agencies.
Yet
by
the
1960s,
Britain
occupied
one
of
the
first
places
in
USSR
trade
with
developed
capitalist
countries.
The
widely
publicized
expulsion
of
105
Soviet
personnel
in
1971
had
an
adverse
effect
on
trade
(Rank
Xerox
lost
a
£2
million
contract
which
was
ready
for
signing
within
a
week
of
the
expulsions),
but
the
changed
climate
of
contemporary
Anglo-Soviet
relations
was
apparent
in
the
absence
of
any
Soviet
economic
riposte
when
thirty-five
Soviet
personnel
were
expelled
in
1985
and
a
further
three
in
1989.
This
was
the
year
in
which
Gorbachev
declared
that
full
Soviet
participation
in
international
economic
organizations
was
an
integral
element
of
his
perestroika.
Finally,
Anna
Dyer
examines
the
perennial
problems
of
doing
business
in
the
USSR.
Indeed,
the
reforms
associated
with
perestroika
appear
to
have
made
it
more
complicated
for
Western
companies
to
trade.
In
comparison
with
their
European
rivals,
however,
British
firms
have
been
slow
in
taking
up
the
possibilities
of
joint
ventures.
Alex
Pravda’s
succinct
introduction
and
conclusions
stress
the
contrast
between
the
pre-perestroika
patterns
and
Gorbachev’s
achievements
since
1985,
which
continued
to
be
praised
by
Mrs
Thatcher
as
proof
of
their
personal
chemistry
during
her
Moscow
visit
in June
1990.
Evidence
of glasnost
in
action
is
the
estimated
audience
of
eighteen
million
who
are
now
able
to
listen
to
an
unjammed
Russian
service
of
the
BBC.
Yet
despite
Mrs
Thatcher,
Moscow
still
considers
relations
with
London
as
less
likely
to
yield
as
high
a
return
on
the
same
investment
as
relations
with
Paris
or
Bonn.
Indeed,
the
United
States
and
the
Federal
Republic
of
Germany
remain
at
the
forefront
of
Soviet
images
of
the
West.
But
not
even
his
array
of
experts
can
read
Gorbachev’s
horoscope
and
foretell
if
he
will
be
able
to
handle
Yeltsin’s
comeback
as
President
of
a
sovereign
Russian
Federation,
a
progressively
worsening
economic
situation,
ethnic
strife
and
increasing
demands
for
independence,
not
only
from
the
Baltic
states.
NIGEL
CLIVE
The
Future
of
Sea
Power
by
Eric
Grove.
London:
Routledge,
1990.
280pp.
Two
useful
features
distinguish
this
book
from
much
contemporary
writing
on
naval
subjects.
The
first
is
that
it
covers,
without
sacrificing
depth
or
detail,
the
full
spectrum
of
necessary
knowledge
about
sea
power.
Most
authors
tend
to
specialize,
but
Eric
Grove
is
as
much
at
home
with
the
technology
of
warships
and
their
weapons
as
he
is
with
strategy,
politics,
merchant
shipping
and
the
law
of
the
seas.
For
the
serious
student -
this
is
a
tight-packed
book -
Grove
has
provided
a
concise
and
comprehen-
sive
introduction
to
naval
affairs.
He
has
also
managed -
unlike
many
other
authors
publishing
in
1990 -
to
produce
a
book
which
has
suffered
little
from
the
transformation
that
year
brought
to
the
international
scene.
Admittedly
the
chapter
on
’Navies
in
war’
now
seems
excessively
focussed
on
general
war
between
the
United
States
and
the
Soviet
Union.
Such
a
war
is
still
the
worst
that
could
happen
at
sea,
but
years
have
passed
since
it
could
be
regarded
as
the
most
likely
threat
and
the
events
of
recent
months -
inside
the
Soviet
Union
no
less
than
in
the
Persian
Gulf -
have
made
it
look
distinctly
improbable.
Naturally
the
author’s
preference
for
the
single
scenario
reflects
orthodox
naval
opinion,
but
in
real
life
the
challenge
to
navies
is
usually
unforeseen -
the
Falklands
in
1982
or
Kuwait
in
1990.
Of
course,
it
would
be
wrong
to
write
off
the
Soviet
naval
threat
completely
just
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