Book Reviews : Europe: An Emergent Nation? By CARL J. FRIEDRICH. (New York: Harper & Row, 1969. Pp. 269. $8.95.)

AuthorKarl H. Kahrs
DOI10.1177/106591297002300429
Published date01 December 1970
Date01 December 1970
Subject MatterArticles
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This book is divided into three parts, which represent the major topics with
which the author deals. First, wars of national liberation are placed in the per-
spective of Chinese foreign policy. This is accomplished with a brief but well-
written essay on the Chinese theory of revolution. In this section wars of national
liberation are posited in the context of Mao’s revolutionary theory. Second, the
author does an empirical study of Peking’s support for wars of national liberation
in the year 1965. Here Van Ness employs content analysis of the major newspaper
in Communist China, the People’s Daily, and two magazines covering foreign
affairs. Through this research the author is able to determine how areas where
there is a revolutionary situation are chosen as areas where a war of national libera-
tion &dquo;exists.&dquo;
Why Chinese leaders choose certain situations usually is not an
objective decision, according to the author -
rather it is based primarily upon
Chinese national interest. Also what relation the Chinese government and the
Chinese Communist party has to the revolutionary movements is treated systemati-
cally. Third, the author considers the effect of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revo-
lution upon Chinese foreign policy, especially Peking’s selection of new targets for
revolution and her continued support for liberation movements. The author con-
cludes that the high pitch of revolutionary fervor in China during the Cultural
Revolution had very little effect upon support for wars of national liberation in
other nations.
Part two of Revolution and Chinese Foreign Policy, which deals with Peking’s
selection and support of wars of national liberation, is the most important section
of this book. Here the author explains why Peking is selective in supporting revo-
lutionary movements, frequently not aiding revolutionary situations which seem
to be good targets. The author’s research indicates that areas unfriendly to China
are most often chosen as...

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