The Latin American Military as a Socio-Political Force by Charles D. Corbett (review)

REVIEWS 437 of the Renaissance, manyof whomwill, no doubt,cringeat the preposterous priceof$I6.5oasked forit bythepublisher. ANTHONY MOLHO BrownUniversity The Latin AmericanMilitary asa Socio-Political Force.CHARLES D. CORBETT. Coral Gables,Fla, Center for Advanced International Studies,University of Miami, •97•. PP.xxii, •43.$4.95cloth,$3.95paper. In thisslender studyColonel Charles Corbettargues thatexpected apoliticismo hasnot resulted from the evidentincreased professionalization of the armed forcesof Latin America. Scholars suchas Edwin Lieuwen, John Johnson,and J. Leon Helguerahaveconsidered the tension whichoccursasincreasing professionalization challenges a heritage of militaryintervention in politicalaffairs. Corbett's analysis, in concert withRobertPotash's •969workArmyandPolitics inArgentina andAlfredStepan's more recent TheMilitary...inBrazil, illustrates thatthecontemporary professional militaryestablishment of Latin Americahas rejected theroleof politicalarbiteronlyto serve ascontinuing and sometimes revolutionary executives. The Braziliancoupof •964,thePeruvianof •968, the Bolivianof •964, and the Argentine of I966 serveascases in point; in each instance themilitaryleadership hascontinued in executive control of thenation: professionalization cancause poIiticismo! Corbettalsoconsiders 'thedeepdivisions withinthevarious officercorps over specific policies'(p. •3), and explains suchdivisions in termsof differingroleidentities accepted byindividuals withinthemilitaryhierarchy. Suchdiverse roles (Conservative, Professional, Socio-Economic Liberal,Revolutionary,etc.) partially explain the quarrelingand sometimes personalistic groupswhich exist withintheLatin Americanarmedforces. To develop suchprovocative andcomplexthemes , theauthorpresents case studies of theBolivianandArgentinemilitary . While the latter studyis the better of the two, the former is the more valuable.The military complexof Argentinahasbeen studiedcarefullyby Marvin Goldwert,RonaldChilcote,LiisaNorth, James Rowe,and,in particular, Robert Potash.Expectingonly the work of William Brill, the military of the altiplanohasnot beenstudied well.Corbett's generalthemeand hisBolivian case study fillsignificant gaps in theanalysis of thecontemporary LatinAmerican military. Althoughthe author usesfew primary sources, his personalbroad experience supplemented by theBolivianRevistaMiIitar enables him to show howdifferinglevelsof professional trainingcondition the socio-economic attitudes oftheindividual officers. Indeed,such levels appearof greaterimportthan doestheclass andculturalbackground of the concerned officer. A moreextended indexand simpleline mapswouldhavestrengthened this valuablestudy.A few printingerrorsand the omission of someaccentmarks mar an otherwise well-editedwork.Strangely,notesare includedat the bottom ofthepages andasa full setfollowing thetext.The Foreword byMoses Harvey isa fineoverview of theevolving interpretations of Latin Americanmilitarism. 438 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Corbett's work,thefirstofa number ofmonographs tobeputoutbyUniversity of Miami'sCenterfor Advanced Studies, establishes a veryhighstandard for laterpublications in theseries. THOMAS M. BADER California StateUniversity, Northridge Japanese ForeignPolicyontheEve of thePacificWar: A SovietView. N.KVTA•:OV. Editedwitha Foreword byG•.oRG•. AI,•.XXNt)•.R I,•.NS•.N. Tallahassee, Fla,Diplomatic Press, •972.Pp.xiv,241 . $I5.OO. TheStrange Neutrality.G•.ogo•. a.•.x•Nt)•.gt.•.NS•.N. Tallahassee, Fla, DiplomaticPress , I972.Pp.xii,422,illus.$I5.oo. GeorgeAlexanderLensen,author,editor,and translatorof numerous workson Russo-Japanese relations, hasgivenustwo verydifferentstudies of EastAsian diplomacy duringWorldWar n. The firstis a translation of a studyby the distinguished Sovietdiplomatic historian and currentUnited Nationsundersecretary generalfor politicaland SecurityCouncilaffairs,LeonidN. Kutakov.His work, apparentlya compilationof essays writtenbetweent959 and I97O , argues that 'theformationof the German-Japanese military-political alliance,which hastened the outbreakof the Second World War, wasfacilitatedby the anti-Sovietpolicyof the United States,Great Britain, and France.'After reviewingthe familiar historyof the makingof theTripartite Pact,Kutakovargues that Britishdiplomatists hoped toextend'appeasement' toEastAsiafromanti-Soviet motives. SirRobertCraigie, Britishambassador in Tokyo,emerges asthe arch-villain.His effortsat AngloJapanese accommodation in t938-9, ForeignSecretaryHalifax's interestin enlisting Germansupportfor endingthe Sino-Japanese conflict,and American Ambassador Grew'sarguments for a non-provocative policytowardTokyoadd up,in Kutakov's account, to 'appeasement.' The remainder of thebookchroniclesthemakingof theJapanese-Soviet NeutralityPactof •945 and the Gotterdarnrnerung of those whomadeit in Tokyofouryearslater. Westernhistorians will certainlyfault Kutakov'slogicand discount his ideologicalhistoriography . Despitehisuseof Sovietarchives, theywill not find a greatdealof newevidence in thisvolume.But theywill find a differentand perhapsusefulperspective. Editor,Lensensuggests that it reflectsa 'Munich syndrome' that still influences Sovietdiplomacy. English-speaking diplomatic historians aremorelikely,however, to findmorefuelfortheongoing debate over the ideological makeupof prewarBritishand Americandiplomats. Kutakov raisesquestions about the mix of anti-fascism and anti-communism in their minds.His conclusions contradictWilliam RogerLouis' recenthigh praiseof Craigieandaddanotherfacetto thearguments of ArnoldOffnerand JohnP. Diggins. The second volumeisLensen's narrativeofwartimeJapanese-Soviet relations, based ona •962Kutakovstudyanda still-classified officialaccountin theForeign Ministryarchives atTokyo.The Japanese-Soviet NeutralityPactwasborn,tried ...