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January 1971
Vol 49, Number 2 << Previous: October 1970 | Next: April 1971 >> FIND FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON A NEWSSTAND NEAR YOU  |  |
New Tides in Southeast Asia
William P. Bundy
For three decades now, Southeast Asia has been the scene and cockpit of
struggles among great powers. Can it now be moved away from this status-
unenviable and totally unwanted by its peoples? Can one outline a picture
of conditions there that meets the desires of Southeast Asians and is at
the same time compatible with the basic interests of all the major powers?
Are such conditions more realizable now than ever before? If so, how can
one move from here to there, and in particular how, if they were made the
ultimate goal, would this affect the play of the hand (in all quarters) in
bringing the war in Indo-China to a conclusion?
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The Nixon Doctrine and Our Asian Commitments
Earl G. Ravenal
Eighteen months after its enunciation at Guam the Nixon Doctrine remains
obscure and contradictory in its intent and application. It is not simply
that the wider pattern of war in Indochina challenges the Doctrine's
promise of a lower posture in Asia. More than that, close analysis and the
unfolding of events expose some basic flaws in the logic of the
Administration's evolving security policy for the new decade. The Nixon
Doctrine properly includes more than the declaratory policy orientation. It
comprises also the revised worldwide security strategy of "1½ wars" and the
new defense decision-making processes such as "fiscal guidance budgeting."
These elements have received little comment, especially in their integral
relation to our commitments in Asia. But the effects of this
Administration's moves in these areas will shape and constrain the choices
of the United States for a long time to come.
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Hazardous Courses in Southern Africa
George F. Kennan
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Science and Policy for a New Decade
Caryl P. Haskins
In a recent and prescient biography and analysis of Thomas Jefferson, its
author emphasizes in his preface "Jefferson's thrust beyond nationality to
the cosmopolitan fraternity of science and philosophy, his commitment to
the civilizing arts, to education, to progress, to rationality in all
things . . . ."[i] Direct quotations from Jefferson underline the same
theme: "The societies of scientists. . . form a great fraternity spreading
over the whole earth;" or, again, "The field of knowledge is the common
property of all mankind, and any discoveries we can make in it will be for
the benefit . . . of every other nation, as well as our own."
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The Politics of Europe: Europe Between the Superpowers
Anthony Hartley
For anyone who is a believer in the integration of Europe the present
political conjuncture must appear somewhat paradoxical. On the one hand,
there is a discernible thaw in relations within the Community itself. The
resignation of President de Gaulle and a change in French foreign policy
(which is none the less real for being denied) have permitted the
completion of the Common Market's agricultural policy, some sort of a start
has been made on planning a common monetary policy with the Werner Report,
and the crucial negotiation for the enlargement of the Community is now
under way. After seven years of relative stagnation it might seem as though
the creation of an integrated Europe had been resumed-to end perhaps in the
emergence of a larger and stronger economic entity which, by the very fact
of its greater freedom of action, will hardly be able to avoid political
decisions and, hence, concerted political action through appropriate
institutions. (By "Europe" is meant not only the Six of the Common Market
but also those other West European countries with whom they have close
political, economic and cultural relations. Such a definition, moreover,
does not exclude the so-called "neutrals," or Spain and Portugal, and it
might be hoped that at some point it would be possible to extend it to
countries in Eastern Europe.)
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Nuclear Diplomacy: Britain, France and America
Andrew J. Pierre
The Atlantic nations are moving toward a new security relationship which
may in time involve the role of European strategic nuclear forces. We are
in a period of widespread questioning of the nature of future American
participation in the defense of Western Europe. In the squalor of American
cities, the increased racial and social tensions of our society and the
demands for a shift in national priorities away from defense toward
domestic problems lie the seeds of change. If we add to these the economic
recovery of Europe, the U.S. view that the allies are not carrying a fair
share of their own defense, the balance-of-payments deficit toward which
the U.S. forces abroad make a substantial contribution, the squeeze on the
Pentagon budget, the tendency resulting from the traumatic experience in
Vietnam to shed responsibilities, we find the ingredients of a reduced U.S.
military involvement in Europe.
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The Real Divisions of Europe
André Fontaine
All Gaul is divided into three parts. Curiously enough, American
intellectuals resort to the celebrated quotation from Caesar more often
than do their French counterparts. Similarly, the divisions in Europe and
in their own homelands are no doubt felt less keenly by the citizens of the
Old World than by those of the New. Americans are used to vast expanses
without frontiers. It shocks them to see that there still persist in Europe
the antiquated particularisms which their grandfathers left behind in favor
of the comforts of the melting pot.
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Darkness in Haiti
Robert D. Crassweller
Haiti is in many ways a true social relic. Having lingered almost intact
for more than a century and a half, this unfortunate country to a great
extent is the past; its every ancient curiosity remains as precisely
visible as a well-preserved archaeological artifact.
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The Erosion of Surface Naval Power
Paul Cohen
The effectiveness of merchant ships in ocean transport-and of surface naval
vessels to protect them or to blockade them as the circumstances require-
was the foundation on which Great Britain built her empire, on which the
United States bases the credibility of her international commitments and by
which the U.S.S.R. hopes to expand her role in Africa and Asia. That
foundation continues to erode under an irresistible tide of technology, the
key expressions of which are the submarine and the missile.
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In the Twilight of the Franco Era
Stanley G. Payne
The importance of southern Europe to the balance of power in world affairs
has been underlined by the continuing crisis in the Middle East, the growth
of Russian power in the Mediterranean and President Nixon's diplomatic
journey in the autumn of 1970. The earlier renewal of the Spanish-American
military pact, followed by Nixon's visit to Madrid, once more called
attention to the role played by the Spanish government. At the same time,
the future of the Franco régime has raised more questions than at any time
in the past two decades, if only because of the fact that Franco himself
entered his seventy-ninth year at the close of 1970 and in the preceding
year took the unprecedented step of officially designating a successor,
Prince Juan Carlos de Borbón, as heir to the Spanish throne.
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