WAR OR PEACE

by John Foster Dulles ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 1950

A short book but an extremely important one, particularly in view of the appointment of John Foster Dulles to the State Department, the best insurance of the bipartisanship he advocates that the administration could give. It is an almost up to the minute book (the latest data bears the February 1950 dateline) -- and a book that is in the main heartening in that he feels war can be avoided, provided our policies are extended and reenforced. He explores the problem, and there is a revealing and rather terrifying analysis of Stalin's Problems of Leninm which he feels bears the same relation to Soviet Communism that M Ka bore to Hitler's Nazism. He analyzes the policies we have developed in the five years since the war. He feels that the weakness of the U.N. lies not in the factors ordinarily blamed(veto power, failure of Charter to carry grant of power, etc.) but because there is not a consensus of moral judgement. He gives positive evidence of the achievements of the U.N. in Iran, Greene, Korea, Israel, Indonesia; in the handling of the Berlin blockade; in the compromise- far from ideal, but a least a positive performance-on the Italian colonies; in the intangibles of committee operation. The forward steps in Asia may, he feels, be cancelled out by the Soviet victory in China and its threat to the newly freed people of Southeast Asia. Defense has its achievements in the Rio Pact and the North Atlantic Pact; economy in the Marshall Plan, Benelux, ERA. On the military score, the Soviet has a modern military establishment but their methods do not give precedence to military aggression, and they must be met on their own ground- in propaganda war. The score of achievements of the Soviet is an impressive one, in central and eastern Europe, in the churches, in Asia, Africa, Latin America (through divide and conquer means). The sore spots (Greece, Yugoslavia) must be helped at our end- there lies our greatest hope. To this end, bipartisanship foreign policy is a Must. We need it for ratification of treaties, appropriation of money, assurance of continuity. We must extend the war of ideas. We must strengthen our faith, our moral and spiritual roots.

Pub Date: April 18, 1950

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1950

Categories: NONFICTION