Book Reviews : The United Nations as a Political Institution, Fifth Edition, by H. G. Nicholas London: Oxford University Press, 1976. 263 pages. paperback £1.75. The Procedure of the UN Security Council by Sydney Bailey. London: Oxford University Press, 1975. 424 pages. £10

DOI10.1177/004711787600500310
Published date01 April 1976
AuthorKen Twitchett
Date01 April 1976
Subject MatterArticles
1048
The
International
Yearbook
of
Foreign
Policy
Analysis,
Volume
2,
Edited
by
Peter
Jones.
London:
Croom
Helm,
1975.
266
pages. £7.95
The
second
volume
of
Peter
Jones’
annual
collection
of
essays
on
foreign
policy
analysis
well
illustrates
the
wide-ranging
nature
of
that
branch
of
International
Relations.
The
eight
contributions
cover
such
disparate
subjects
as
peace
research,
crisis
decision-making,
and
the
foreign
policies
of
the
super
powers.
The
volume
commences
with
Michael
Guhin’s examination
of
the
implications
for
American
foreign
policy
of
the
executive-legislative
relationship
in
the
final
months
of
the
Nixon
Administration.
Robert
Purnell
looks
at
Soviet
foreign
policy
in
1974,
and
this
is
followed
by
Peter
Marsh’s
investigation
of the
developing
relationship
between
the
European
Community
and
Comecon.
The
foreign
policies
of
the
two
principal
Asiatic
powers
are
probed
by
Michael
Yahuda
and
John
Welfield
respectively:
the
former
unravels
the
whole
scope
of
China’s
external
interests
in
1974,
while
the
latter
confines
himself
to
examining
Chinese,
Japanese,
and
American
relations
during
the
last
decade
or so
of
the
Cold
War.
James
Mayall
analyses
the
changing
diplomatic
landscape
within
which
foreign
policy
interests
are
resolved
in
Africa,
and
Avi
Shlaim
is
concerned
with
the
lessons
of
the
October
1973
Arab-Israeli
War
for
crisis
decision-making
in
Israel.
In
the
final
essay
Professor
Karl
Deutsch
provides
a
commentary
on
the
current
state
of
peace
research.
The
essays
themselves
vary
in
quality,
but
overall
Mr.
Jones
is
to
be
congratulated
on
bringing
together
such
an
interesting
collection.
Unfortunately,
however,
there
is
no
central
theme
to
the
book
apart
from
the
fact
that
all
of
the
essays
are
concerned
with
some
aspect
of
foreign
poliey - a
random,
arbitrary
collection
which
makes
no
pretence
to
cover
all
the
many-sided
nature
of
foreign
policy
analysis.
Moreover,
there
is
no
index,
no
bibliography,
no
biographical
details
of
the
con-
tributors,
or,
more
importantly
perhaps,
not
even
a
brief
editorial
introduction
setting
out
the
book’s
general
objectives.
In
effect,
Peter
Jones
has
provided
a
’joumal’
of
foreign
policy
analysis
in
book
form.
At
£7.95
this
is
rather
expensive
compared
with,
say,
the
six
or so
articles
(plus
book
reviews)
provided
in
each
edition
of
International
Relations
- price
65p!
l
Carol
Cosgrove
Twitchett
The
United
Nations
as
a
Political
Institution,
Fifth
Edition,
by
H.
G.
Nicholas
London:
Oxford
University
Press,
1976.
263
pages.
paperback
£1.75.
The
Procedure
of
the
UN
Security
Council
by
Sydney
Bailey.
London:
Oxford
University
Press,
1975.
424
pages.
£10.
In
recent
years
the
United
Nations
has
attracted
comparatively
little
attention
from
British
commentators.
The
thirtieth
anniversary
of
the
organisation
in
1975
passed
almost
unnoticed
in
the
British
Press,
which
no
longer
devotes
much
space
to
spectacular
UN
quarrels
even
when
the
United
Kingdom
is
involved.
The
organisation
does
not
figure
so
prominently
as
it
once
did
in
the
syllabuses
of
University
degree
and
similar
courses
on
International
Relations-the
study
of
Western
European
co-operation
now
occupying
the
place
once
filled
by
the
UN.
There
are,
moreover,
relatively
few
British
scholars
who
devote
themselves
to
studying
the
organisation.
Thus,
these
books
by
two
of
the
foremost
British
students
of
UN
affairs
are
especially
welcome.
H.
G.
Nicholas,
Rhodes
Professor
of
American
History
and
Institutions
at
the
University
of
Oxford,
published
the
first
edition
of
his
commentary
on
the
United
Nations
in
1959
and
has
consistently
updated
it
since
then.
Professor
Nicholas
examines
the
origin
and
evolution
of
the
organisation,
compares
the
League
Covenant
with
the
UN
Charter,
analyses
the
UN’s
principal
institutions
(Security
Council,
General
Assembly,
ECOSO’C,
the
Trusteeship
Council,
the
specialised
agencies,
the
Court
of
Justice,
and
the
Secretariat),
and
probes
the
attitudes
of
its
member
states
to
the
organisation.
In
this
latest
edition

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