Shorter Notices
| Date | 01 March 1964 |
| Published date | 01 March 1964 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206401900148 |
| Subject Matter | Shorter Notices |
Shorter
Notices
POWER
AND
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.
By
Inis
L.
Claude,
Jr.
1962.
(New
York:
Toronto: Random
House.
x,
310pp.
$6.55)
The
title
of
this
book
betrays
the
precision
of
the
author's
theme:
"However
one
may
resolve
the
question
of
the
priority
to
be
assigned
to
the
maintenance
of
peace,
it
is
clear
that
the
problem
of
the
management
of
[military]
power
in
international
relations
looms
as
the
central
issue
of
our
time"
(p.
5).
". ..
man cannot
unlearn
what
he
knows
about
the
means
of
creating
power
. . .
[and]
...
The
urge
to
abolish
[it]
strikes
me as
less
realistic
and
less
salutary
than
the
effort
to
accomplish
its
effective
management"
(p.
8).
Having
defined
his
terms,
he
proceeds
to
identify
"three
basic
con-
cepts
which
may
be
regarded
as
relevant
to
the
problem
of
the
manage-
ment
of
power:
balance
of power,
collective
security,
and
world
government"
(p.
8).
"This
sequence,"
he
adds,
"reflects
the
central
hypothesis
which
underlies my approach
to
the
study:
the
proposition
that
these
concepts
are
related
to
each
other
as
successive
points
along
a
continuum
. .
."
(p.
9)
ranging
from
"a
kind
of
laissez
faire
arrange-
ment
in
the
sphere
of
power politics"
(balance
of power)
to
"a
program
for
the
centralization
of
power
and
policy
in
those
areas
deemed
relevant
to the maintenance
of
international
peace
and
order"
(world
government).
In
his
endeavour
to
assess
the
contribution of
each concept
to
the
problem
of
managing
power,
Claude
undertakes
an
historical
survey
and
analysis
of
the
writings
and
comments
of
over
100
statesmen,
scholars, newspapermen and
institutions.
He
illustrates
the
"multiple
meanings" (as
a
situation, as
a
policy,
as
a
system,
and even
as
a
symbol)
given
to
the
term
"balance
of
power."
He
scrutinizes
its
"plural"
usage
particularly
as
seen
in
the
writings
of
A.
J. P.
Taylor
and
Hans
Morgenthau.
He
traces
the
development
of
the
notion
of
collective
security
dwelling
especially
on
Woodrow
Wilson's
thinking
and
on
the
respective
attitudes
of
the
League
and
the
U.N.
He
appraises
the
argument
for
world government
focussing
in
detail
upon
its
proposi-
tion
of
a
"monopoly of power"
in world
politics.
Today
the
implications
of
the
exercise
of
military
power
have
given
enormous
significance
to
the
problems
of
the
management
of
that
power.
This
is
a
stimulating
and
perceptive
analysis
of
those
problems.
It
is
skeptical, modest
in
tone,
well-written
and
leavened
with
wry
humour.
It
has
an excellent
bibliography.
Its
approach
and
its
conclusions
merit
close
attention.
But
perhaps
its
singular
value
lies
in
its
proof
that
one
can analyze
international
relations
intelligently
without having
to
play
games.
[EDWARD
D.
GREATnEDJ
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