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University of Glasgow

Review: [untitled]Author(s): Margot LightSource: Soviet Studies, Vol. 33, No. 4 (Oct., 1981), pp. 630-631Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/151689 .

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630 REVIEWS

Richard K. Ashley, The Political Economy of War and Peace. The Sino-Soviet-

American Triangleand the Modern Security Problematique. London: FrancesPinter

(Publishers) Ltd.,New York: Nichols

Publishing Company,1980.

xv + 384 pp. ?15.

RICHARD shley bases his work upon North and Choucri's concept of lateral

pressure, or 'the tendency of a social unit to expand its geographic compass, to

push outward the boundaries that partition reality between the "external"environment and the unit itself, and to draw an ever greater expanse of realitywithin itself' (p. 14). As societies develop knowledge and capacities, demands are

generated which can be fulfilled only by expansion. Sustained expansion of two

or more societies leads to their interests intersecting, and these intersections canlead to co-operation, but more commonly cause conflict and potential violence.

Ashley claims that there is a three-phase set of processes through which all statesprogress: unilateral processes which cause growth; bilateral processes which leadto rivalry;and multilateralprocesses which cause a balance of power relationshipto develop. In the course of this inevitable historical progression, states and

statesmen internalize the values of growth and expansion, so that the system is

perpetuated even when it becomes clear that its very survival depends upon thecollective management of growth.

Ashley uses his expanded version of North and Choucri's concept to studyrelations between the United States, China and the Soviet Union in the period1950to 1972. He builds a probabilisticgeneral model to investigate the expansion

of the three powers, their intersections, bilateral rivalry, military capabilities,normal levels of conflict and thresholds of violence. He is meticulous in

explaining the model, the sources of his data and the difficulties involved in

constructing measures, warning the reader that 'it would be a gross mistake toassert or believe that each measureis anything more than an approximation of thesocial processes conceptualized' (p. 55). The book is filled with an impressivearray of tables, mathematical equations and diagrams. The mathematicallytrained behavioural scientist has the opportunity to judge technique and model,but the general reader should not be intimidated-the book abounds with

insights, and although the model reveals very little new about the past relations

between the Soviet Union, China and the United States, the approach isinteresting. Although the book is difficult to read and often repetitious, the effort

is rewarding. Ashley also offers a critique of other theories of international

relations.There is a depressing determinism in Ashley's model. The modern security

dilemma centres around the trajectory towards disaster implied by theseinevitable and irreversible processes taking place in a world of scarce and

unevenly distributedresources and capabilities, given the fact that the expectationof sustained growth and expansion is a dominant feature of all societies.

Moreover, in a multilateralsystem of balance of power, the impact of growth and

differential growth occurring anywhere reverberates throughout the system,causing disturbances to which other states must respond. And the responsesthemselves perpetuate the conditions they are intended to resolve. 'The circlecloses . . . embracing tragedy within it. It captures even those who would alterthe system, even those who would seek to escape' (p. 204).

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REVIEWS 631

The only prospect for future survival that Ashley offers is to distinguishbetween technical rationality and 'rationality proper'. Technical rationality is

normalproblem-solving

behaviour and it informs current conventionalattemptsto solve international problems. Rationality proper encompasses technical

rationality, but it accepts the dependence of all social units on the environment

and on other social units. It concentrates on adaptation, and the achievement ofthe consensual management of growth. The cybernetic revolution, the growing

acceptance of inter-dependence and the strengthening of a trans-national

scientific community capable of rationality proper are hopeful indications that

rationality proper will be able to prevent the catastrophe of ceaseless growth in a

world of finite resources.In describing the general model, Ashley's tone is cool and neutral. The

measured tone continues when he applies the model to the Sino-Soviet-American

triangle. When he describes the implications of the model for the future, he is

passionately concerned. It is the voice not of the social scientist, but of the

prophet. The pessimism is so convincing that the reader needs to clutch at what

little hope Ashley has to offer. This dense and complex book is a valuable

contribution to international relations theory. It also succeeds in warning us,

fulfilling the author's aim.

University of Surrey MARGOTLIGHT

Boris Komarov (pseud.), The Destruction of Nature in the Soviet Union.Foreword by Marshall I. Goldman. White Plains, New York: M. E. Sharpe,*1980. x + 150 pp. $15.00.

ITis no secret that pollution is a widespreadand significant problem in the SovietUnion. The Soviet press has regularlyreported instances of environmental misusesince the controversy over the threat to Lake Baikal posed by the construction ofcellulose plants erupted in the mid-1960s. Soviet scholars have written extensivelyon the technical, economic, legal, philosophical and political aspects of environ-

mental protection. A number of excellent works on the topic have been publishedby Western students of the Soviet Union in the past decade. Yet there is much

important information which has not been made public.

Perhaps the major theme of Komarov's book is the inordinate secretiveness ofthe Soviet government in its treatment of environmental matters. The generalpublic, Komarov suggests, is ill-informed about the extent of environmental

degradation in the USSR, although Soviet citizens have complete access to workscritical of the environmental performance of bourgeois nations. Specialistsworking on environmental problems have access to better information. Komarovtells us that in recent years the Hydrometeorological Service (renamed the State

Committee for Hydrometeorology and the Environment in 1978)has published aBulletin of Environmental Pollution for confidential use among specialists and

ministry officials. The author quotes from the Bulletin figures detailing the

number of cities in the USSR in which the maximum permissible concentration

REVIEWS 631

The only prospect for future survival that Ashley offers is to distinguishbetween technical rationality and 'rationality proper'. Technical rationality is

normalproblem-solving

behaviour and it informs current conventionalattemptsto solve international problems. Rationality proper encompasses technical

rationality, but it accepts the dependence of all social units on the environment

and on other social units. It concentrates on adaptation, and the achievement ofthe consensual management of growth. The cybernetic revolution, the growing

acceptance of inter-dependence and the strengthening of a trans-national

scientific community capable of rationality proper are hopeful indications that

rationality proper will be able to prevent the catastrophe of ceaseless growth in a

world of finite resources.In describing the general model, Ashley's tone is cool and neutral. The

measured tone continues when he applies the model to the Sino-Soviet-American

triangle. When he describes the implications of the model for the future, he is

passionately concerned. It is the voice not of the social scientist, but of the

prophet. The pessimism is so convincing that the reader needs to clutch at what

little hope Ashley has to offer. This dense and complex book is a valuable

contribution to international relations theory. It also succeeds in warning us,

fulfilling the author's aim.

University of Surrey MARGOTLIGHT

Boris Komarov (pseud.), The Destruction of Nature in the Soviet Union.Foreword by Marshall I. Goldman. White Plains, New York: M. E. Sharpe,*1980. x + 150 pp. $15.00.

ITis no secret that pollution is a widespreadand significant problem in the SovietUnion. The Soviet press has regularlyreported instances of environmental misusesince the controversy over the threat to Lake Baikal posed by the construction ofcellulose plants erupted in the mid-1960s. Soviet scholars have written extensivelyon the technical, economic, legal, philosophical and political aspects of environ-

mental protection. A number of excellent works on the topic have been publishedby Western students of the Soviet Union in the past decade. Yet there is much

important information which has not been made public.

Perhaps the major theme of Komarov's book is the inordinate secretiveness ofthe Soviet government in its treatment of environmental matters. The generalpublic, Komarov suggests, is ill-informed about the extent of environmental

degradation in the USSR, although Soviet citizens have complete access to workscritical of the environmental performance of bourgeois nations. Specialistsworking on environmental problems have access to better information. Komarovtells us that in recent years the Hydrometeorological Service (renamed the State

Committee for Hydrometeorology and the Environment in 1978)has published aBulletin of Environmental Pollution for confidential use among specialists and

ministry officials. The author quotes from the Bulletin figures detailing the

number of cities in the USSR in which the maximum permissible concentration