Daniel Macfarlane and Murray Clamen, (eds), The First Century of the International Joint Commission
| Published date | 01 December 2020 |
| Author | Brooks Stephen |
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702020976612 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
his standpoint deserves more respect than some commentators have seen fit to
grant. Metternich predicted that efforts to enact this principle were doomed to
cause bloodshed and tumult where there were large national minorities, and the
record largely bears him out. Those for whom ethnic cleansing is a live memory
cannot readily dismiss his insight. Metternich was devoted to the Holy Roman
Empire, and then the Habsburg Empire, seeing these as entities in their own right
and not, as our more Whiggish scholars do, as unsatisfactory precursors to the
nation state.
Of course, our judgment of Metternich must depend heavily on his diplomacy
leading up to, and during, the Congress of Vienna, and here Siemann provides
what is probably the most richly detailed account to date. He painstakingly recon-
structs Metternich’s effort to keep the allies of the Sixth Coalition on side, notably
Russia’s impetuous mystic, Tsar Alexander I. He also corrects Schroeder on one
vital point, namely the latter’s belief that Metternich appeased Napoleon with
repeated peace offers up until the final clash of arms. As Siemann’s research
into Metternich’s papers shows, he was rhetorically committed to this course for
tactical reasons of alliance solidarity, not least to prevent premature military
action. Indeed, Metternich’s keen grasp of military realities is one of the book’s
many rewarding finds. Siemann does plug rather too hard the notion that
Metternich was the principal architect of the Vienna order, not Castlereagh, but
finally concludes that there is credit enough for both in shaping an international
system that lasted tolerably well until the revolutions of 1848.
To be sure, the work has its flaws. The treatment of the 1820s is rather cursory,
as if Siemann had tired of his hero, while it is the rare reader who will welcome
almost fifteen pages on the diplomacy surrounding Metternich’s first marriage.
Siemann is rather too fond of announcing that this or that topic has never been
broached by previous scholars, and that he is breaking fresh ground. That said,
Daniel Steuer’s translation is pacy and idiomatic, and the volume has been hand-
somely produced by Belknap Press. Quibbles aside, this is likely to be the standard
life of Metternich for a very long time.
Daniel Macfarlane and Murray Clamen, (eds),
The First Century of the International Joint Commission,
Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2020. 603pp. $42.99 (paper)
ISBN: 978-1-77385-107-5
Reviewed by: Stephen Brooks (brooks3@uwindsor.ca), University of Windsor, Ontario,
Canada
There can be no doubt that The First Century of the International Joint Commission
is the definitive book on the International Joint Commission (IJC). Daniel
Macfarlane and Murray Clamen have assembled an excellent team of academics,
former IJC commissioners, and water management experts in chapters that span
virtually all the important aspects of the IJC’s origins, development over time, and
role in binational environmental management. Accomplishments are recognized,
682 International Journal 75(4)
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