BALDWIN, HANSON W. Power and Politics. The Price of Security in the Atomic Age. Pp. xv, 117. Claremont, Calif.: Claremont and Associated Colleges, 1950. $2.75

• Author: Johannes Mattern
• DOI: 10.1177/000271625127400134
• Published date: 01 March 1951
• Date: 01 March 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

211

gained,

in

terms

of

national

advantage,

through

compromise

than

through

fighting.

The

present

immense

military

superiority

of

Russia

gives

little

reason

for

hope

that

such

a

significant

shift

of

attitude

can

be

brought

about

through

mere

negotiation.

Moreover,

the

terms

of

agreement

em-

bodied

in

this

plan

would

give

all

the

major

advantages

to

the

Western

powers.

Under

them

the

status

quo

would

be

guaranteed

and

safeguarded

for

years

to

come.

Thus

the

communist

world

revolutionary

move-

ment

would

be

stopped

in

its

tracks.

Other

obvious

barriers,

such

as

differences

in

cultures,

standards

of

living,

fears

of

member

nations

that

the

world

organization

would

encroach

upon

their

domestic

affairs,

and

probable

squabbles

over

the

apportion-

ment

of

delegates

to

the

assembly,

might

delay

or

defeat

the

proposed

plan

from

the

start.

Mr.

Clark’s

Plan

for

Peace

is.

probably

not

realizable

under

existing

circumstances.

Nevertheless

it

opens

the

way

for

further

constructive

thinking

along

lines

leading

to

a

possible

ultimate

solution

to

this

knotty

problem.

FLOYD

A.

CAVE

San

Francisco

State

College

BALDWIN,

HANSON

W.

Power

and

Politics.

The

Price

of

Security in

the

Atomic

Age.

Pp.

xv,

117.

Claremont,

Calif.:

Clare-

mont

and

Associated

Colleges,

1950.

$2.75.

This

book

consists

of

three

lectures

de-

livered

shortly

before

the

Korean

interlude.

In

the

first

the

author

quotes

as

the

initial

guiding

postulate

the

words

of

James

V.

Forrestal,

late

Secretary

of

Defense:

&dquo;There

is

no

power

without

politics

and

no

politics

without

power.&dquo;

According

to

the

second

postulate

power

is

not

itself

evil

-but

can

be

a

great

force

for

good.

Its

quality

of

good

or

evil

depends

on

the

purpose

for

which

power

is

employed

and

the

manner

in

which

it

is

exercised.

The

criterion

of

judgment

at

the

present

time

is

the

degree

of

security

or

lack

of

security

of

the

western

world

threatened

by

the

ideological

and

political

expansionist

aims

of

the Soviet

Union.

The

author

enumerates

some

of

the

fac-

tors

contributory

to

the

growth

and

inten-

sification

of

power

during

the

last

century

and

a

half:

Napoleon’s

levee

en

masse

as

the

beginning

of

total

war;

the

decline

of

Christianity

and

moral

restraints;

accept-

ance

by

Bolshevism

and

large

parts

of

the

masses

of

the

doctrine

that

&dquo;the

end

jus-

tifies

any

means&dquo;;

the

rise

of

the

super-

states ;

and

finally

the

industrial,

scientific,

and

technological

revolutions

with

their

products,

the

atom

bomb

and

the

hydrogen

bomb

to

come.

On

this

background

he

un-

folds

the

sinister

implications

of

the

&dquo;polit-

ical

problems&dquo;

to

be

faced.

In

the

second

lecture

the

author

shows

how

the

atom

bomb

duplicates

on

earth

the

tongues

of

flame

licking

from

the

sun

and

their

effect

upon

man,

beast,

soil,

vegetation,

and

atmosphere.

He

cites

other

weapons

such

as

biological

agents,

gas,

guided

missiles,

the

schnorkel

submarine,

and

other

instrumentalities

for

potential

mass

killing

of

civilians

and

soldiers

alike.

&dquo;The

Hard

Road-The

Middle

Way&dquo;

is

the

title

of

the

last

lecture.

The

author

cautions

that

there

never

was

and

there

is

not

now

absolute

security.

The

best

to

be

hoped

for

is

relative

security.

An

at-

tempt

to

gain

the

impossible

would

lead

to

the

garrison

or

bankrupt

state

or

both.

He

rejects

preventive

war

and

the

extremes

of

isolationism

and

world

government.

The

only

chance

for

relative

security

is

found

in

the

balance

of

power:

that

is,

&dquo;in

the

instinctive

tendency

of

free

nations

to

combine

against

that

one

or

group ...

that

seems

to

be

expanding

so

aggressively

and

exerting

such

domination

as

to

en-

danger

the

liberties

of

all.&dquo;

May

this

meager

review

serve

to

stim-

ulate

the

reading

of

this

little

but

com-

manding

book.

JOHANNES

MATTERN

The

Johns

Hopkins

University

NEVINS,

ALLAN.

The

United

States

in

a

Chaotic

World.

A

Chronicle

of

Inter-

national

Affairs,

1918-1933.

Volume

55

in

"The

Chronicles

of

America

Series."

Pp.

ix,

252.

New

Haven:

The

Yale

University

Press,

1950.

Subscription

edition

$6.00.

NEVINS,

ALLAN.

The

New

Deal

and

World

Affairs.

A

Chronicle

of

International

Affairs,

1933-1945.

Volume

56

in

&dquo;The