Still the Golden Door: The Third World Comes to America, and: The Immigration Time Bomb: The Fragmenting of America (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 247 Nowhere is the staleness of the enterprise more evident than in the epilogue, in which Mastny tries to distill the lessons of the diverse group of essays. Briefly recognizing the limits of economic instruments of power, he states that the "essence of power," its military basis, "has not significantly changed," notwithstanding the introduction of nuclear weapons into international politics. He concludes by affirming that the major change in the international system has been the diminished utility of power. These remarks may be unassailable but they are hardly novel, nor deserving of the revelatory tones with which they are delivered. It is unfortunate that at the very moment Mastny appears ready to venture into less charted territory, he stops and the book abruptly ends. After cautioning that "the West need not entrust its future" to "crude and unreliable" military components of power, Mastny falls silent. He never does suggest what the West should rely on instead. Two contributions do stand out, however. The first, Stephanie Neumann's piece on global arms transfers and American national interests, is thoughtful and meticulously researched. For anyone thinking of plunging into the everexpanding literature on arms transfers, Neumann's work is a good place to start. The second is Kenneth Thompson's elegant tribute to Hans Morgenthau, to whom this volume is dedicated. Morgenthau's unrivaled understanding of the shifting rhythms and timeless principles of world affairs, Thompson reminds us, is as sure a guide as any in the formation of American foreign policy today. Yet one cannot help but wonder if the memory of this visionary is not worth a finer tribute than the haphazard assemblage of scholarly outtakes thrown together here. Still the Golden Door: The Third World Comes to America. By David Reimers. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985. 319 pp. $25.00/cloth. The Immigration Time Bomb: The Fragmenting of America. By Governor Richard Lamm and Gary Imhoff. New York: E. P. Dutton Inc., 1985. 271 pp. $18.95/cloth. Reviewed by Gilad Y. Ohana, M.A. Candidate, SAIS The years since World War II, and particularly since 1960, have seen a new wave of immigration to the United States. Unlike their predecessors, the new immigrants— legal and illegal — come mainly from the Third World, especially from Latin America and Asia. Like previous immigrants, however, the new arrivals have established a strong economic, cultural, and political presence, particularly in U.S. cities. And as in the past, their presence has led to a debate within the United States over the question of how many new residents can be absorbed. While David Reimers' Still the Golden Door offers a historical survey of postwar immigration to the United States, Colorado Governor Richard Lamm and co-author Gary Imhoff offer suggestions for the reform of U.S. immigration laws. 248 SAIS REVIEW Still the Golden Door is a meticulously researched and well written discussion of both the rising number of Third World immigrants and the changes in U.S. policy that have permitted this increase. The period after World War II, Reimers writes, was marked by an increased willingness to allow greater immigration from the Third World. He provides several reasons for this shift, including postwar economic prosperity in the United States and the repeal of racially biased laws favoring those from northwestern European nations. Finally, the increased role of the United States in world affairs gave it a higher visibility in the Third World, while U.S. foreign-policy commitments made the United States feel a responsibility to accept refugees fleeing communism. Reimers also discusses the recent history of U.S. immigration policy, which has largely failed to regulate the number of new residents. There are many reasons for this, but a major factor, he argues, is poorly designed postwar policies. Another problem has been the birth of pro-immigration pressure groups, which have effectively blocked reform measures while pushing for a larger number of places for refugees. Given the woeful state of U.S. immigration policy, Richard Lamm and Gary Imhoff argue, the United States is "like a house without a door." Unlike Reimers, who limits himself to history, Lamm and Imhoff address the future of U.S. policy...