Book Reviews : Building the Atlantic World. By ROBERT STRAUSZ-HUPÉ, JAMES E. DOUGHERTY, AND WILLIAM R. KINTNER; WITH STEFAN T. POSSONY, ROBERT L. PFALTZ- GRAFF, JR., RICHARD B. FOSTER, AND FRANCIS P. HOEBER. (New York: Harper and Row, 1963. Pp. xiv, 400. $6.00.)

• Author: Douglas H. Mendel
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296401700134
• Date: 01 March 1964
• Published date: 01 March 1964
• Subject Matter: Articles

158

Warmbruun’s

study

is

well

organized,

with

an

excellent

and

helpful

conclusion.

There

is

a

glossary

of

terms

to

enable

the

reader

to

keep

the

various

German

and

Dutch

groups

and

policies

in

order.

There

is

also

an

extensive

bibliography,

largely

of

Dutch

works and

materials,

which

demonstrate

the

enormous

amount

of

labor

which

has

gone

into

this

work.

Although

some

of

the

author’s

judgments

may

be

opposed,

in

every

case

he

presents

all

sides

of

the

controversy

before

rendering

a

deci-

sion.

His

scholarly

treatment

of

tragic

human

problems

is

seldom

touched

with

com-

passion,

but

it

is

always

moved

by

fairness

and

understanding.

München,

Germany

BRUCE

B.

FRYE

Building

the

Atlantic

World.

By

ROBERT

STRAUSZ-HUPÉ,

JAMES

E.

DOUGHERTY,

AND

WILLIAM

R.

KINTNER;

WITH

STEFAN

T.

POSSONY,

ROBERT

L.

PFALTZ-

GRAFF,

JR.,

RICHARD

B.

FOSTER,

AND

FRANCIS

P.

HOEBER.

(New

York:

Harper

and

Row,

1963.

Pp. xiv, 400.

$6.00.)

This

book,

the

third

in

a

series

by

the

Foreign

Policy

Research

Institute,

is

a

valuable

discussion

of

current

problems

facing

the

NATO

alliance.

It

is

stronger

on

current

and

future

problems

of

nuclear-sharing

than

on

past

developments

or

eco-

nomic

regionalism

in

Western

Europe.

Professor

Strausz-Hup6,

who

also

supervised

the

earlier

studies

on

Protracted

Conflict

and

A

Forward

Strategy

for

America,

has

produced

another

work

worthy

of

serious

reading,

but

rather

longer

on

rhetoric

and

repetition

than

solid

data

or

balanced

viewpoints.

The

collaborative

work

begins

with

two

chapters

on

the

meaning

of

the

Atlantic

Community

and

the

political

history

of

NATO,

both

stressing

the

need

for

closer

political

ties.

The

fourth

chapter,

on

the

economic

base

of

Atlantic

power,

slights

European

economic

regionalism

in

favor

of

the

implications

of

economic

growth

for

military

sharing.

It

hardly

compares

in

quality

with

the

third

or

fifth

chapters

(both

published

earlier

in

Orbis) ,

which

deal

with

the

central

theme

of

nuclear-sharing

within

the

NATO

alliance.

These

are

the

most

tightly-written

sections

of

the

book,

and

worthy

of

wide

discussion.

The

three

final

chapters

deal

with

various

sources

of

opposition

to

Atlantic

unity,

Communist

and

non-Communist;

political

institutions

that

might

serve

to

strengthen

NATO;

and

a

rather

rhetorical

conclusion

on

future

prospects.

The

book

is

enriched

by

a

postscript,

reacting

to

De

Gaulle’s

veto

of

British

membership

in

the

EEC

and

other

events

of

early

1963.

This

postscript

should

be

read

first

as

the

summary

of

the

author’s

solid,

albeit

controversial,

advice

to

the

NATO

powers.

The

authors

firmly

advocate

American

support

of

a

multilateral

nuclear

force,

but

not

on

the

Kennedy

Polaris

terms.

They

urge

us

to

give

WEU,

mainly

France

and

West

Germany,

control

of

tactical

nuclear

weapons

to

forestall

the

trend

toward

national

forces

de

f rappe.

Only

by

sharing

more

of

American

nuclear

weapons

and

know-how,

they

believe,

can

De

Gaulle

be

persuaded

to

retreat

from

his

obstruc-

tionist

stance.

The

Polaris

plan

of

Nassau,

they

rightly

point

out,

was

too

restrictive

to

attract

either

De

Gaulle

or

(they

should

have

added)

the

British

behind

Mac-

Millan.