Central America and the Western Alliance (review)

290 SAIS REVIEW snippets ofinformation ranging from reports ofraging debates in the Australian Parliament over the desirability of mining that country's vast uranium supplies to Libyan claims to portions of Niger's uranium supplies. Neff has brought considerable skill and dedication to the task of piecing together this chaotic puzzle of how the production and sale of uranium fits into the larger picture of nuclear energy and nuclear proliferation. The International Uranium Market is part reference book and part drama. The book has not only graphs, tables, facts, and figures, but also includes a detailed analysis of the policy implications facing nations as they expand or contract their involvement in the international uranium market. The book is useful and interesting for anyone who is involved—either financially or academically—in the nuclear industry. The weakness in the book is that Neff makes no definitive statements about the future of the world nuclear industry. He wrestles with this problem and finally draws the conclusion that anything is possible: The industry might grow rapidly, slowly, or not at all, which analysis would seem to require that Neffs book be updated or revised within five or ten years. Yet most books that deal with nuclear energy will soon be seriously dated anyway; Neffs can hardly avoid this fate, despite his excellent and clearly written analysis. Even when much of the information is no longer immediately relevant, the book will still be an accurate historical and technical reference guide to the first four decades of the international uranium market. Central America and the Western Alliance. Joseph Cirincione, ed. New York: Holmes and Meier, 1985. pp. 238. Reviewed by Giuseppe Casale, M.A. candidate, SAIS. The economic and political decisions of U.S. administrations regarding Central America have always triggered debates among the members of the Western Alliance. Europeans have frequently been critical on this score—not only because of humanitarian interests in Central America, but also because of a concern about how the United States has responded to this crisis, and how U.S. policy in Central America affects the Western Alliance. The Europeans, because of their colonizing experience, respond in a different way than the Americans, who see Central America as their "doorstep." Moreover, "the criticism of U.S. actions in Grenada seems to have been based largely on questions of sovereignty and the right of our external power to decide the political arrangements of a neighboring state." The Europeans generally do not believe that military responses are appropriate for Central American problems. On the other hand, among Europeans there is a growing tendency to look at Central America as a decisive test for the United States and for the Western Alliance. U.S. strategy, tactics, and decision-making processes are analyzed by the Europeans in the light of their implications for future U.S. leadership of the Western Alliance, especially in the context of a continuous and increasing level of political tension in East-West relations. Central America and the Western Alliance deals explicitly with these problems. The volume is a collection of papers presented at the conference "Central America and the Western Alliance," held in Washington from 31 May to 1 June 1984. The volume presents different and sometimes conflicting points of view, BOOK REVIEWS 291 leaving the reader to judge which arguments are the most persuasive. Particularly thought-provoking are the papers of Michael Tatù, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and William Rogers. The participants seem to agree, however, that the moment of decision has arrived for the United States to opt either for intervention or negotiation. Europe Transformed-.l878—1919. By Norman Stone. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984. Reviewed by Steven C. Soper, M.A. candidate, SAIS. This broad study of European history from the Great Depression to the Great War is, in certain respects, an audacious work. Stone pays unusual attention to the general trends, changes, and crises that were taking place in Europe during this period, and dedicates only one of the book's five parts—albeit the longest and central one—to standard, individual country analyses. In the earlier thematic chapters on Europe before World War I, he darts from Jules Ferry to Frère-Osban, and...