Book Reviews : Partners in Development: Report of the Commission on International Develop ment. Edited by LESTER B. PEARSON. (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1969. Pp. 400. $2.50 paperback.)
| Author | Fred R. Von der Mehden |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591297002300116 |
| Published date | 01 March 1970 |
| Date | 01 March 1970 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
213
could
become
autonomous;
not
wards
of
a
great
power.
The
small
states
of
South-
east
Asia
could
recover
national
dignity
by
accepting
national
responsibility
for
those
enterprises
against
which
they
borrow.
It
is
true
that
the
states
of
Southeast
Asia
will
still
need
outside
expertise,
but
again,
under
Black’s
system,
this
would
be
operated
presumably
on
a
&dquo;hire
and
fire&dquo;
basis
geared
to
the
effectiveness
of
the
experts
on
the
job
and
to
the
real-life
cycle
of
an
enterprise.
This
is
a
far
cry
from
being
&dquo;directed&dquo;
by
an
appointee
of
a
foreign
government.
Hopefully,
when
projects
end,
the
apparatus
would
disband
and
not,
as
at
present,
find
some
other
obscure
reason
to
stay
alive.
Black
also
points
out
that
the
U.S.
public
knows
full
well that
the
monies
being
spent
on
aid
in
Southeast
Asia
have
been
largely
ineffective.
The
only
way
to
continue
to
involve
the
American
taxpayer
in
the
aid
process
is
to
make
it
effec-
tive
and
this
is
where
Black
gives
a
prescription
for
so
doing.
It
is
perhaps
relative
to
the
magnificent
vision
of
the
MeKong
Basin
Project
that
Black
comes
closest
to
indulging
in
faith
rather
than
reality.
There
is
no
ques-
tion
as
to
the
significance
of
the
vision
or
as
to
the
immense
benefits
that
would
accrue
to
mainland
Southeast
Asia
should
the
MeKong
Basin
Project,
with
its
flood
control,
irrigation
benefits,
navigation
systems,
and
its
electric
power
potential,
become
a
reality.
But
many
technical
details
have
yet
to
be
worked
out.
Some
of
these,
such
as
the
care
of
laterite
soils
in
the
absence
of
natural
annual
flooding
are
critical
to
success
and
relate
to
phenomena
about
which
we
do
not
know
a
great
deal.
On
the
non-technical
side,
the
diplomacy
of
regional
cooperation
has
yet
to
begin
at
the
action
level.
Here
is
the
real
challenge.
But
as
Black
points
out,
here
is
a
new
role
for
the
U.S.
which
is
primarily
diplomatic
and
secondarily
technical,
which,
if
successfully
undertaken,
could
help
ameliorate
our
past
mistakes.
If
the
U.S.
government
is
seriously
interested
about
its
future
in
Southeast
Asia,
it
will
take
note
of
Black’s
recommendations.
Indeed,
if
it
is
wise,
it
will
implement
the
important
ones
with
dispatch.
Prescott
College
RONALD
C.
NAIRN
Partners
in
Development:
Report
of
the
Commission
on
International
Develop-
ment.
Edited
by
LESTER
B.
PEARSON.
(New
York:
Praeger
Publishers,
1969.
Pp.
400.
$2.50
paperback.)
This
report
to
the
IRBD
is
the
culmination
of
an
eleven-month
study
by
four-
teen
international
experts
&dquo;of
stature
and
experience&dquo;
whose
authority
it
was
to
&dquo;study
the
consequences
of
twenty
years
of
development
assistance,
assess
the
results,
clarify
the
errors
and
propose
the
policies
which
will
work
better
in
the
future.&dquo;
Under
the
chairmanship
of
Lester
Pearson,
the
Commission
held
regional
meetings
with
representatives
of
some
seventy
nations
and
United
Nations
personnel
and
received
considerable
assistance
from
various
government
agencies.
The
results
display
considerable
success
in
analyzing
the
problems
of
the
past
and
assessing
the
results
of
two
decades
of
foreign
aid,
but
the
political
scientist,
at
least,
may
be
somewhat
unsettled
by
the
proposals
incorporated
within
the
report.
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