Book Reviews : The Foreign Affairs Fudge Factory. By JOHN FRANKLIN CAMPBELL. (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1971. Pp. 304. $6.95.)

AuthorDavid Howard Davis
Published date01 December 1971
Date01 December 1971
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/106591297102400424
Subject MatterArticles
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The major weak point in this study is the chapter on costs of defense in other
countries. Russett examines Britain, Canada, and France, nation states that are
explicitly or implicitly protected by United States guarantees. These countries are
not presently considered a threat to our security. Data on the U.S.S.R. and main-
land China are readily available and would have made a much more credible
analysis. Moreover, the author examines British security policy from 1890 to the
mid 1960’s and makes the astonishing statement that &dquo;this is an appreciably longer
span than can be examined for the United States....&dquo; This is not meant to im-
ply that data are not available.
The chapter on alliances and the price of primacy is worth the price of the
book. It is a very worthwhile and thoughtful examination of alliances from a
public versus private goods perspective.
In the preface, Russett identifies his study as a &dquo;work in social engineering.&dquo;
Perhaps this is a euphemism for academic muckraking. He appears to be less the
engineer and more the philosopher and reformer. His analysis deals almost ex-
clusively with objective (posterior) probabilities and judgments and for the most
part, neglects the important area of subjective (prior) probabilities. Furthermore,
the author, as an engineer, does not hesitate to indulge in moral assumptions and
judgments.
Security may well be an ambiguous symbol. The costs of defense, as Russett
and others suggest, may need to be reappraised. Constitutional dispersion of
authority and incremental decision-making perhaps, as Russett asserts, should be
better understood. It could be that this book, that appears to have been hastilty
written, might stimulate probings into these matters.
ANDREW C. TUTTLE
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
The Foreign Affairs Fudge Factory. By JOHN FRANKLIN CAMPBELL. (New York:
Basic Books, Inc., 1971. Pp. 304. $6.95.)
Foggy Bottom is under attack again, this time from one of its own. This
...

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