WEAPONS: The International Game of Arms, Money and Diplomacy

by Russell Warren Howe ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 1980

A huge (650-odd pp.), cluttered survey of the world arms business that, unlike George Thayer's War Business (1969) or Anthony Sampson's The Arms Bazaar (1977), will swamp the concerned citizen, if not the expert. Howe is good, however, on the industry-government connection: former aircraft company execs work closely with trusting senators and persuade them to vote for costly missile systems; contractors tailor weapons systems to provide employment in the electoral fiefs of influential congressmen. Much of what lobbywatching Howe says already belongs to history, but we can still learn from his retelling of, say, for instance, the Grumman F-14 deal that bailed out this major Long Island employer. Selling the sophisticated Tomcat fighters to the Shah of Iran meant jobs and oil (at below OPEC prices)--but what about the fact that the Shah's regime was oppressive? What about the fact that we were supplying ""classified information"" to a friendly, but non-allied power? What about the fact that the fat contract meant stationing 20 to 40 thousand American civilian technicians in Iran, thereby straining the already delicate social fabric of a traditionally xenophobic nation? Naturally, the U.S didn't make the swap just for oil and employment on Long Island; the Shah had conceded ""major surveillance facilities"" on his territory. But Howe concludes with this cheery thought: ""It seems unlikely that the Iranian experience will be much more chastening to Washington than the Egyptian experience was for Moscow."" Anyone who can digest all of his facts will indeed question the possibility of getting ""the international game"" under control.

Pub Date: May 23, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION