In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

156 SAIS REVIEW While the spread of nuclear weapons has long been a matter of international attention, the battlefield use of chemical munitions and the large-scale bombardment of civilian populations by ballistic missiles during the Iran-Iraq war has increased concern over the proliferation ofthese weapons systems. Chemical Weapons and Missile Proliferation is a compilation of essays devoted to this subject, focusing on the Asia/Pacific region. The text's brief essays are organized into two groups: an evaluation of the threat and consequences posed by chemical weapon and missile proliferation, and an examination ofthe efficacy ofpossible arms control and disarmament solutions. In light of the general conclusions offered by the individual chapters—that the danger ofchemical and missile proliferation in Asia/Pacific is neither as imminent or as inevitable as is conventionally thought—this volume may seem of questionable utility. Yet the book as a whole sheds some useful light on topics that have generated considerable speculation and alarm. It makes clear that chemical arms and ballistic missiles are of doubtful military efficacy. Indeed, as Aaron Karp points out in his essay, the relationship between both weapons is not as straightforward as commonly thought. And while the capacity to produce chemical weapons is a function ofthe increasing international traffic ofchemical technology, Julian Perry Robinson stresses that the conversion ofcivilian manufacturing facilities to poison gas production is neither simple nor swift. By suggesting that much ofthe concern over these issues is exaggerated, both essays serve as helpful correctives to the glib "threat of the month" thinking characterizing a great deal of the academic and policy discussion on proliferation. Moreover, in view of the recently completed negotiations for the historic Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the development and possession of these weapons, the several chapters on the problems of chemical disarmament are also especially relevant. Confronting the Costs of War: Military Power, State and Society in Egypt and Israel. By Michael N. Barnett. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992. $39.50/Hardcover. Reviewed by David J. Pervin, MA. SAIS, 1989, and PhD. candidate, Department ofPolitical Science, University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles. Despite the importance ofthe Middle East and the vast literature it has generated, there have been few attempts by political scientists to use the region to develop new theory, test and refine general theories, or shed light on the region's dynamics. Due partly to the pernicious effects of the politization of Middle East studies, academic neglect ofthe region is also due to the implicit or explicit beliefthat the Middle East is sui generis and comparisons to other regions or attempts to apply theories based on the European historical experience are, at best, received skeptically . Although the region exhibits many of the same broad phenomena as other areas of the Third World, such as domestic and interstate conflict, underdevelopment , and authoritarianism, the region receives only cursory examination. Indeed, many ofthese phenomena stem from the same general cause: the inherent difficulties experienced by new states constrained in mobilizing domestic resources and BOOK REVIEWS 157 adapting to the international environment, a problem not specific to the Third World. This "Janus Faced" nature ofthe state is the starting point ofMichael Barnett's stimulating work Confronting the Costs ofWar: MilitaryPower, State, andSociety in EgyptandIsrael. Barnett argues that the state's domestic goals—political stability and economic growth—often with conflict and even contradict its international aims, particularly defense preparation which often necessitates a tradeoffbetween various goals. The state's ability to deal with this conflict is affected by the opportunities , constraints, and threats ofboth the international and domestic environments and the state's strength relative to society. Barnett provides three broad strategies available to states: an "accommodational strategy" in which limited changes are made to the status quo; a "restructural strategy" in which the state "attemptls] to restructure the present state-society compact in order to increase the total amount of financial, productive [material], and manpower resources ... for war preparation "; and an "international strategy" in which the state forms alliances in order to gain military and economic support from external sources. Barnett applies this framework to examine how both Egypt and Israel used these different strategies to adjust to changing domestic, regional, and global conditions...

pdf

Share