Book Reviews : The Edge of Freedom. By JOHN B. OAKES. (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1961. Pp. xiv, 130. $3.50.)

• Author: Frank Munk
• Published date: 01 December 1961
• Date: 01 December 1961
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591296101400433
• Subject Matter: Articles

988

penses

with

all

bibliographical

data

for

which

he

refers

the

reader

to

his

forth-

coming

book,

Les

Groupes

de

Pression

Internationaux.

The

ideas

expressed

by

Professor

Meynaud

are

highly

controversial

and

interesting.

One

awaits

with

expectation

the

book

with

a

fuller

statement

of

his

theory.

Arizona

State

University

HEINZ

R.

HINK

The

Edge

of

Freedom.

By

JOHN

B.

OAKES.

(New

York:

Harper

and

Brothers,

1961.

Pp.

xiv,

130.

$3.50.)

This

is

not

a

scholarly

volume,

but

an

informed

tour

d’horizon

of

the

emer-

gent

nations

of

sub-Saharan

Africa

with

additional

chapters

on

the

U.S.S.R.,

Poland,

and

Yugoslavia.

This

may

sound

like

an

odd

juxtaposition,

but

it

does

illustrate

the

book’s

chief

point:

the

need

to

view

each

state

as

a

separate,

highly

individualistic

entity

not

to

be

covered

by

such

generic

terms

as

communism,

neutralism,

or

democracy.

The

present

trend

seems

to

be

in

the

direction

of

breaking

up

existing

blocs

or

perhaps

of

creating

new

ones.

One

single

policy

is

adequate

neither

for

the

Communist

world

nor

for

the

new

states

of

Africa.

We

need

a

much

subtler,

tailor-made

policy

for

each

single

country

and

that

pre,

supposes

a

much

more

refined

understanding

of

the

political

system

of

each

political

unit.

The

author

is

a

member

of

the

editorial

board

of

the

New

York

Times

and

his

book

has

all

the

hallmarks

as

well

as

the

stigmata

of

American

journalism:

it is

based

on

adequate

gathering

of

data

in

the

field,

on

personal

interviews

with

such

men

as

Tour6,

Mboya

and

Nyerere,

and

it

offers

a

clear

overview

of

the

major

forces

now

rampant

all

over

the

globe;

it

cannot

quite

free

itself

from

the

slightly

synthetic

and

at

times

too

slick

and

clever

style

that

seems

to

afflict

the

better

kind

of

American

newspapers,

sacrificing

precision

to

a

bon

mot.

The

result

is

a

cross

between

reporting

and

analysis

which

does

not

quite

do

justice

to

either.

Nevertheless

it

presents

enough

important

insights

and

suggestions

for

dif-

ferent

approaches

in

our

foreign

policy

to

recommend

itself

to

any

general

reader

who

wishes

to

acquaint

himself

painlessly

with

the

new

states

on

the

map.

Reed

College

FRANK

MUNK

The

International

Status

of

the

Suez

Canal.

By

JOSEPH

A.

OBIETA.

With

a

Fore-

word

by

RICHARD

R.

BAXTER.

(The

Hague:

Martinus

Nijhoff,

1960.

Pp.

ix,

137.

Guilders

13.85.)

Throughout

its

history

the

Suez

Canal

has

been

the

focus

of

controversy

and

conflict,

arising

out

of

efforts

to

control

this

crucial

point

on

the

sea

passage

linking

Europe

with

the

east

coast

of

Africa,

India,

the

Far

East,

and

Australasia.

Those

who

agree

with

Baxter’s

claim

(in

his

Foreword)

that

&dquo;much

of

this

troubled

history

yields

more

readily

to

political

than

to

legal

analysis,&dquo;

will

also

like

Obieta’s

analysis

of

legal

substrata,

covering

especially

the

right

of free