Coping with Decline
| DOI | 10.1177/002070209805300212 |
| Published date | 01 June 1998 |
| Author | Francine McKenzie |
| Date | 01 June 1998 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
FRANCINE
MCKENZIE
Coping
with
Decline
Recent
books
on
British diplomatic
and
political
history
Using
Europe,
Abusing
the Europeans:
Britain
and
European
Integration,
1945-63
by
Wolfram
Kaiser
(Basingstoke:
Macmillan,
1996,
2
9.
6
pp,
US$59.95)
Britain
and
European Union:
Dialogue
of
the
Deaf
by
Max
Beloff
(Bas-
ingstoke:
Macmillan,
1996,
170pp,
US$59.95)
Thatcher's
Diplomacy:
The
Revival
ofBritish
Foreign
Policy
by
Paul
Sharp
(New
York:
St
Martin's,
1997,
xviii,
26
9pp,
US$65.00)
Fifty
Years
On: A
Prejudiced
History
ofBritain
Since
the
War
by Roy
Hat-
tersley
(London:
Little
Brown,
1997,
404
pp,
$45.00)
Paul
Kennedy
has
identified
a
pattern
in
the
histories
of
the
great
pow-
ers:
nations
which
rise
inevitably
fall.
It
is
counter-intuitive,
but
a
nation's
strength
(primarily
economic and
military)
is
the
cause
of
its
eventual
demise.
As
nations
ascend
they
extend
their
commitments
and
resources.
At
a
critical
moment
commitment
turns
into over-commit-
ment
and
resources
become
over-stretched.
The
political result
is
Assistant
Professor
ofHistory,
University
of
Toronto
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Spring
1998
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