Geoffrey Williams. The Permanent Alliance: The European-American Partnership, 1945-1984. Pp. xii, 407. Leyden: Sijthoff, 1977. $37.00

• Author: Harold K. Jacobson
• Published date: 01 January 1979
• Date: 01 January 1979
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271627944100132
• Subject Matter: Articles

212

to

say

that

&dquo;Weber,

Freud,

Durkheim,

and

Croce

succumbed

to

a

psychological

malaise&dquo;

because

they

acknowledged

&dquo;irrational

forces

underlying

even

the

most

rational

behaviour

and

institu-

tions ?&dquo;

And

there

are

errors

of

fact.

The

&dquo;Economic

Circle&dquo;

did

not

lead

to

&dquo;the

founding

of

the

Fabian

Society&dquo;

though

it

had

some

influence

on

Fabianism.

Moreover,

Ms.

Soffer’s

treat-

ment

of

social

thought

is,

like

so

much

of

her

subject

matter,

rather

insular.

The

absence

of

any

reference

to

Parson’s

classic

study,

in

which

Marshall

is

treated

along

with

Pareto,

Durkheim

and

Weber,

is

indicative.

So

too

is

the

absence

of

any

reference

to

Marx.

In-

deed,

from

a

broader

framework

one

might

question

the

usefulness

of

her

dis-

tinction

between

&dquo;revolutionaries&dquo;

and

&dquo;revisionists.&dquo;

Marshall,

James,

and

Wallas

after

all

remained

firmly

wedded

to

the

essentially

individualistic

com-

mitments

of

their

liberal

predecessors.

McDougall

and

Trotter,

in

contrast,

made

the

fundamental

methodological

shift

which

Durkheim

had

made

earlier-

to

the

&dquo;social

fact&dquo;

or

society

as

a

reality

sui

generis

as

the

main

object

of in-

vestigation.

From

a

European

perspec-

tive

who,

then,

were

the

revolutionaries

in

England?

STANLEY

PIERSON

University

of

Oregon

Eugene

GEOFFREY

WILLIAMS.

The

Permanent

Alliance:

The

European-American

Partnership,

1945-1984

.

Pp.

xii,

407.

Leyden:

Sijthoff,

1977. $37.00.

This

extended

essay

about

relation-

ships

between

the

United

States

and

Western

Europe

in

the

period

since

World

War

II

concentrates

primarily

on

security

and

military

strategy

issues,

and

especially

on

the

problem

of

se-

curity

of

Western

Europe

vis-A-vis

the

Soviet

Union.

The

North

Atlantic

Treaty

figures

prominently

in

the

analysis.

Al-

though

the

broad

outline

of the

book

follows

a

chronological

sequence,

it

is

not

a

history

and

within

chapters

events

are

treated

topically

rather

than

chrono-

logically.

At

least

half

of

the

book

deals

with

the

1960s.

Great

attention

is

given

to

the

disagreements,

controversies,

and

conflicts

among

the

NATO

members.

The

final

chapter

of

the

book

calls

for

a

new

institutional

relationship

between

the

United

States

and

the

members

of

the

European

Economic

Community,

and

it

expresses

the

hope

that

Japan

could

be

brought

into

this

arrangement.

The

author

adjures

that

the

&dquo;super-

super

power&dquo;

thus

created

could

&dquo;en-

sure

peace

for

a

generation

or

more&dquo;

(p.

365).

Unfortunately

the

prescription

for

the

new

institutional

relationship

between

the

United

States

and

Western

Europe

is

not

very

detailed.

It

is

asserted

that

Europe

must

be

an

equal

partner

to

the

United

States,

and

that

European

leader-

ship

is

vitally

needed.

Both

points

are

persuasive,

but

the

real

issues

concern

the

details

of

implementing

these

sug-

gestions,

not

the

broad

goals.

The

real

issues

involve

bringing

several

key

European

polities

together

for

the

pur-

suit of

coordinated

or

joint

policies.

One

cannot

recommend

how

to

do

this

with-

out

examining

issues

that

have

tradi-

tionally

been

considered

domestic

rather

than

international.

There

is

little

analysis

of

such

issues

in

this

book,

and

what

analysis

there

is

is

confined

largely

to

the

United

States

and

the

United

Kingdom.

There

is

even

little

analysis

of

such

matters

as

the

suc-

cesses

and

failures

of

the

Eurogroup

within

NATO,

and

of

the

difficulties

that

have

arisen

in

connection

with

the

co-

ordinated

or

joint

production

of

arma-

ments

for

NATO

forces.

A

detailed

anal-

ysis

of

these

matters

might

have

re-

sulted

in

a

better

understanding

of

the

difficulties

that

stand

in

the

way

of

craft-

ing

a

new

relationship

between

Western

Europe

and

the

United

States,

and

of-

fered

new

insights

concerning

ways

in

which

these

difficulties

might

be

overcome.

The

book

is

more

an

account

of

major

controversies

than a

detailed

study

of

any

particular

aspect

of

the

Atlantic

partnership.

These

controversies

are

presented

clearly

and

fairly,

although

the

author’s

disdain

for

certain

positions

taken

by

various

British

and

French of-