Norman D. Palmer

International relations : the world community in transition

International relations;the world community in transition , International relations;the world community in transition , مرکز فناوری اطلاعات و اطلاع رسانی کشاورزی

India in 1975: Democracy in Eclipse

IN 19/5 INDIA experienced its greatest political crisis since independence. During the first six months the political situation, which had been deteriorating for the past two years, went from bad to worse, while the economic situation, which had also been deteriorating for more than two years, began to improve appreciably. While the economic improvement was underway, the political deterioration was arrested abruptly with the proclamation of a national emergency on June 26. This is certainly the watershed date in India in 1975, and perhaps in the history of independent India, for on that day the democratic system that had functioned with considerable success for more than a quarter of a century-thus constituting the major deviant case in the developing world-went into eclipse. India went through two political crises of unprecedented magnitude in 1975: a crisis of deterioration, and a crisis of democracy. The first crisis was arrested, at least temporarily, by the actions that precipitated the second. The second crisis will doubtless have profound effects on the future of the Indian lpolitical system.

Ups and Downs in Indo-American Relations

day respectively the most populous and the most powerful of the democratic states of the world. Each came into existence as a result of a long struggle against British rule. The leaders of the Indian National Congress gained encouragement and inspiration from the American example, and from the stirring words of the Declaration of Independence and other great documents of American freedom. Many Americans followed the course of the Indian independence movement with sympathetic attention, and read the writings of Tagore and Gandhi and Nehru with absorbed interest. Until 1947, however, relations between the United States and India, on both official and unofficial levels, were for the most part remote and indirect. Since 1947 Americans and Indians have discovered each other. Unfortunately this period of discovery has been an uneasy and trying one, and Into-American relations have been inescapably colored by the course of world events and by internal as well as external complications. During this period, for obvious reasons, the United States has been forced to concern itself with the defense of the free world in the face of real and present danger, while India has been primarily concerned with the improvement of conditions within her borders and with other grave problems of survival. Basically, because of the similarity of interests and goals, relations between the United States and India have been fairly good; but Americans and Indians alike are distressed by the many points of friction which have arisen between their two countries, and their feelings toward each other have gone up and down like a Yo-yo since 1947.

The 1962 Election in North Bombay

TOR INDIA the year i962 opened with jubilation tempered by doubts and ended with dismay tempered by determination. At the beginning of the year Indians were still rejoicing over the military occupation of Goa in December i96i, although strong criticisms of the Goa action in the United Kingdom and the United States soon produced sober second thoughts as well as an upsurge of indignation. In the closing weeks India was still trying to recover its political, military, and mental equilibrium after the Chinese attack, although the weaknesses so starkly revealed by the Chinese successes were at least partially offset by a new spirit of national unity and determination. The main political events of i962 in India were the third general elections in February and the Chinese offensive in late October and November. The former event was an impressive demonstration of Indias democratic competence and achievement; the latter was an alarming demonstration of Indias political and military and psychological unpreparedness and lack of realism. The Chinese attack tended to offset some of the trends which had been reinforced by the election results. It adversely affected the prestige and position of Prime Minister Nehru himself, just as the general elections had greatly enhanced his prestige and position. It wrecked-at least temporarily-the political career of V. K. Krishna Menon-a career which had received a tremendous boost by his overwhelming victory in North Bombay in the February elections. At the present time (mid-i963) the crisis with China overshadows all other aspects of Indian political life. While this crisis has apparently reversed some of the political trends that were manifest after the third general elections, and has presented a real challenge to Indias capacity to survive as a democratic nation, it has by no means lessened the significance of the steady progress which India has been making, under formidable handicaps, in the direction of political and economic development, as illustrated by the third general elections and the Third Five-Year Plan. Just as India is determined to achieve security and economic development through planning, it is also determined to achieve security and political development along democratic lines. As a landmark in Indias political development the

Shahid Javed Burki. Pakistan Under Bhutto 1971-1977. Pp. xi, 245. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980.

period up to the time of the post-Cultural Revolution years in the People’s Republic of China. In this book, Baker has shown his remarkable knowledge of details about the Chinese family and kinship system. He has given an indepth description and analysis of its structure and functioning. This book contributes significantly to our understanding of this subject. With the renewed emphasis of the importance of the family as a basic social institution by the Deng Xiao-ping leadership in China, this book is of particular relevance to our study of contemporary China. However, this book suffers from imbalance in the use of empirical evidence. Much of the data are about communities in southern China and the New Territories of Hong Kong. There are few hard facts concerning the family and kinship in other parts of China. The picture of village life of constant tension and conflicts interspersed with clan wars may be true in some communities, but is far from the reality of the daily lives of the vast majority of the hundreds of millions of Chinese people in rural China. On the contrary, most Chinese villagers in traditional China lived in peace most of the time, and there were many cooperative ventures between clans. Clan wars were rare exceptions rather than the rule. As to competition for limited resources be-

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most experienced and wisest diplomats. He is also one of the least known and least appreciated. This book, which is described much more accurately by its subtitle than by its title, provides ample evidence of his common sense and wisdom, but it will do little to gain greater recognition for the man or greater acceptance of his ideas. Yost was a Foreign Service officer for nearly 40 years, from 1930 to 1971, with

CHARLES W. YOST. History and Memory: A Statesman's Perceptions of the Twentieth Century. Pp. 352. New York: W. W. Norton, 1980.

can public figures of the twentieth century. Because he was unable to get some of the Stevenson papers in the Princeton University Library declassified, the chief editor, Professor Walter Johnson, confesses that for him this volume is &dquo;the least satisfactory&dquo; of the series; but as a record of the last years of an extremely full and useful life it stands out as an unusually important concluding volume of a memorable series. The Foreword begins with quotations from tributes to Stevenson at the memorial services in the hall of the General Assembly of the United Nations on July 19, 1965. The text begins with a lengthy commentary from The New Yorker on a typical day for Steven-

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to changing global structures. Mr. Eells’ work seems to be a melding of scissors-and-paste with insight. Our scissors-and-paste reaction comes from Mr. Eells’ numerous summaries of the works of others. His insight lies in his perception of the multinational corporation in institutional terms and his thoughtful application of theories of political scientists and sociologists. That Mr. Eells also finds the ideas of Rachel Carson, Marshall McLuhan, Her-

Walter Johnson, Carol EvansS, and C. Eric Sears, eds. The Papers of Adlai E. Stevenson. Vol. 8: Ambassador to the United Nations, 1961-1965. Pp. xxv, 885. Boston: Little, Brown, 1979.

who warmly supported the French alliance and was responsible for the Stop of the Exchequer in 1672; the Duke of Buckingham whose excesses in personal indulgence exceeded even those of the age in which he lived and who was closely associated with the Declaration of Indulgence of 1672, a complete failure; Ashley Cooper, the Earl of Shaftesbury, who was central to the breakup of the Cabal and whose inconsistencies-he supported both the Declaration of Indulgence and the Test Act-can be explained only in terms of personal ambition. As Lee moves easily back and forth through the period, he tells an absorbing story-just possibly a bit too absorbingfor he likes to give the impression of being inside events. When conjectures are presented as statements of fact, when motives

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Among these emerging nations, India occupies a particularly conspicuous position. The reasons for this prominence are obvious. India is the giant of the developing nations of Asia and Africa, with nearly twice as many people as all of the states of Africa and with as many people as all other nations of South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Its geographical and strategic position, its long historical experience and traditions, its economic as well as human resources, the quality of its administrative and political leadership, its relative stability and its relative success in economic development and in laying the foundations of a system of parliamentary democracy, its active role in international affairs since independence (in spite of its policy of non-alignment) all make India a