POLITICAL POWER: USA/USSR

A major contribution to an understanding of world problems is made by this study of opposing political philosophies. Professors Brzezinski and Huntington have collaborated to produce a readable analysis of the interaction between theory and practice inherent in the American and Soviet systems. They first present an elementary yet detailed anatomy of the basic political skeletons supporting the two countries. Ideas and ideology are related to the points of political power and public involvement. With no shortage of documentation or erudition, a picture emerges that accords with common understanding and uncommon perception. In the second major division of the book, the color of particular incidents, internal struggles and international conflicts, are added. The same straightforward perspective benefits the analysis here, as the strengths and weaknesses of each power are coldly appraised. The conclusion concerns the future, as best it can be read from the direction of current movement. No less than the book as a whole, it is provocatively brilliant. The study was sponsored jointly by the Russian Institute and The Institute of War and Peace Studies of Columbia University; the result is worthy of the sponsorship and merits close attention.