Book Reviews and Notices : Western European Union. Implications for the United Kingdom. BY R. G. HAWTREY. (London and New York: Royal Institute of International Affairs. 1949. Pp. 126. 5s, or $1.50.)

• Date: 01 September 1949
• Author: George V. Wolfe
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294900200316
• Published date: 01 September 1949
• Subject Matter: Articles

433

It

is

the

latter

part

of

the

book

which

raises

truly

challenging

issues:

Should

the

government

rely

on

private

agencies,

maybe

by adding

small

staffs

of

specialist

advisers,

set

up

a

hybrid

system

or

thrust

itself

into

a

full-fledged

governmentally

owned

and

operated

scheme?

Should

it

rely

more

on

mass

media

or

slow

media

(such

as

most

&dquo;cultural&dquo;

activities)?

Should

it

use

the

&dquo;showcase&dquo;

or

the

&dquo;mirror&dquo;

approach?

What

should

be

the

area

and

group

emphases

in

the

world

which

the

author

sees

in

terms

of

such

distinct

targets

as

enemy

areas,

enemy

satellite

areas,

enemy-

occupied

areas,

neutral

and

friendly

areas?

International

organizations

are

only

mentioned

as

channels,

arenas,

and

facilities.

It

is

therefore

not

sur-

prising

that

the

author’s

conclusion

should

be

that

&dquo;action

through

the

UN

or

UNESCO

offers

fruitful

opportunities ...

but

such

a

service

should

never

lose

sight

of

its

ultimate

loyalty

to

national

interest

and

its

relation

to

national

strategy.&dquo;

The

reader

will

still

wonder

whether

a

heterolithic

government

like

that

of

the

United

States

can

successully

generate

monolithic

propa-

ganda,

whether

stress

on

techniques

can

rightfully

take

the

place

of

a

genuine

and

vigorous

ideology,

and whether

insistence

on

national

inter-

est

will

recommend

American

policies

to

our

friends

and

allies-both

actual

and

potential.

Reed

College.

FRANK

MUNK.

Western

European

Union.

Implications

for

the

United

Kingdom.

BY

R.

G.

HAWTREY.

(London

and

New

York:

Royal

Institute

of

Interna-

tional

Affairs.

1949.

Pp.

126.

5s,

or

$1.50.)

On

the

eve

of

the

Brussels

Conference,

the

Royal

Institute

of

Inter-

national

Affairs

set

up

a

Study

Group

to

examine

the

possible

impact

of

a

closer

union

of

Western

Europe

on

the

United

Kingdom.

The

out-

come

of

these

group

discussions

is

the

present

report

by

Ralph

George

Hawtrey,

a

member

of

the

Study

Group

and

professor

of

international

economics

at

the

Institute.

The

most

significant

aspect

of

the

report

is

its

objection

to

any

formal

federation

of

Western

Europe.

This

objection

is

rooted

in

a

distrust

of

&dquo;the

political

practices

and

habits&dquo;

of

the

Continent,

and

in

the

fear

that

it

would

be

impossible

to

reconcile

such

a

federation

&dquo;with

the

continued

existence

of

the

British

Commonwealth

as

now

conceived.&dquo;

(Time

moves

fast,

for

since

this

was

written

India,

though

remaining

a

member

of

the

Commonwealth,

was

absolved

of

her

allegiance

to

the

Crown

at

the

meeting

of

the

Commonwealth

ministers

last

April,

and

allegiance

to

the

Crown

is

one

of

the

characteristics

which

the

author

mentions

as

relevant

to

Commonwealth

relations.)

Hawtrey

also

rejects