Book Reviews : Diplomacy in a Changing World. Edited by STEPHEN D. KERTESZ and M. A. FITZSIMONS. (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959. Pp. viii, 407. $7.50.)

DOI10.1177/106591296001300233
Date01 June 1960
Published date01 June 1960
Subject MatterArticles
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really given a chance when it might have proved effective -
and radically
changed conditions have now rendered it obsolete. In fact, the &dquo;impenetrable,&dquo;
&dquo;independent&dquo; and &dquo;sovereign&dquo; nation-states no longer exist in their classical
meanings. We shall have to devise new concepts if not new words and new
phrases if we are to describe and define international politics today.
In Part II, Mr. Herz describes and analyzes the impact and structure of bi-
polarity and the relationships within and between the great power blocs with
which we must deal today. Especially the effect of new weapons is carefully
evaluated and the modern concept of deterrence is carefully dissected and
placed under the microscope. The author finds us far from secure in any real
meaning of the term. &dquo;It has become abundantly clear that ’superiority’ in this
[hydrogen bomb and means of delivery] or another matter of detail can no longer
prevent actual stalemate in the total picture.&dquo; In the period when mutual an-
nihilation is possible &dquo;superiority&dquo; and &dquo;inferiority&dquo; become meaningless terms.
Professor Herz is at his best in pointing up the inconsistencies in widely held
conclusions about political and military affairs.
Part III, dealing with the future of international politics, contains some very
excellent suggestions for a holding operation during which negotiations may make
it possible for the East and West to coexist for a time. It seems to this reviewer,
however, that Mr. Herz like many in the &dquo;realist&dquo; school is at his weakest when
he deals with long-term alternatives. This is, perhaps, inevitable and the criti-
cism applies to all political scientists who attempt to peer very far into the future.
HOWARD J. McMURRAY
University of New Mexico
Diplomacy in a Changing World. Edited by STEPHEN D. KERTESZ and M. A.
FITZSIMONS. (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959. Pp. viii,
407. $7.50.)
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