The Spirit of Community: Rights, Responsibilities and the Communitarian Agenda by AmitaiEtzioniReview by: Andrew J. PierreForeign Affairs, Vol. 72, No. 4 (Sep. - Oct., 1993), pp. 151-152Published by: Council on Foreign RelationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20045724 .

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Recent Books

on International Relations

Political and Legal ANDREW J. PIERRE

Bridging the Gap: Theory and Practice in

Foreign Policy, by Alexander

george. Washington: United States

Institute of Peace Press, 1993,162 pp.

$24.95 (paper, $14.95). This gem of a book should be of com

pelling interest to the many in the foreign affairs community who have an interest in

both policy and theory. Only a seasoned

scholar who has also networked in the

policy arena, as has Alexander George, could have written it. Bridging the Gap is a

well-chosen title. George addresses the

values and needs of the two cultures, academia and government, in their

respective searches for knowledge and

action. He suggests what might be differ

ent types of policy-relevant knowledge by

examining six strategies that the United

States pursued toward Iraq in 1988-91. All

but one of these were ineffective, he

argues, due to the weak knowledge base

underlying the strategy. The trick for

analysts is not only knowledge as such,

but its presentation in a policy-relevant

manner to the decision-maker, who often

must act on the basis of many still unfold

ing and unknown factors.

The Spirit of Community: Rights, Respon sibilities and the Communitarian Agen da, by AMiTAi ETZiONi. New York:

Crown Publishers, 1993,313 pp. $22.00.

This is a book for the 1990s. An eminent

sociologist and political thinker, Amitai Etzioni senses the pervasive

unease in

our present society and calls for a new

social movement based on the spirit and

action of community. The "communitari

an" approach he advocates involves

mutual obligations between parent and

child as well as moral education in

schools. It is an appealing vision that

seeks improvement in our social and

political environment, emphasizing

responsibilities to others as well as indi

vidual rights. Certainly, it is a far cry from the "me first" philosophy of the

1980s. Yet Etzioni's imaginative thesis

falters when it comes to implementation.

Call for any book reviewed or advertised in Foreign Affairs

Every book reviewed or advertised in Foreign Affairs can now be ordered through Book Call.

Prompt shipment worldwide, express service available. Major credit cards welcome. Mailing

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Call 1-800-255-2665. Worldwide: 203-966-5470. Fax: 203-966-4329.

[151]

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Recent Books

Here he calls for reforming American

politics by reducing the influence of spe cial interests, banning political action

committees, and a variety of measures to

reduce the corrupting flow of money in

politics. This is most desirable, but the

spread of "communitarianism" risks a

slow start if it is depends on first trans

forming the political system.

National Identity, by Anthony d.

smith. Reno (NV): University of Nevada Press, 1991,198 pp. $29.95

(paper, $12.95). Nations Without Nationalism, by julia

kristeva. New York: Columbia

University Press, 1993,102 pp. $18.50. We have entered a period of renewed

nationalism and ethnic conflict in the

post-Cold War world. But what exactly is

nationalism? Anthony Smith, a British

sociologist, is a longtime student of this

question. His latest book, examining the

nature, causes and consequences of

national identity, could not be more rele

vant to our times. Nations and national

ism, he argues, are not simply political bodies and ideology, but cultural phe nomena. They are multidimensional and

encompass language, sentiments and

symbolism. Thus the Basques, Kurds and

Tamils form a clear national identity even

without a state of their own, recognition of which contributes to turmoil and con

flict. Julia Kristeva addresses the question from quite another perspective, that of a

French psychoanalyst and linguistics expert. She writes about people's feelings of "otherness" or "strangeness." When

confronted with an environment different

from their own, they withdraw into their

familiar ethnicity. Nationalism then

becomes a form of "defensive hatred" and, in her thinking, is associated with jingo

ism, skinheads and extremes. In this

short, very personal essay she appeals for a

cosmopolitanism that transcends today's more virulent forms of nationalism.

The Promises We Keep: Human Rights, the Helsinki Process and American Foreign

Policy, by William KOREY. New York:

St. Martin's Press, 1993,518 pp. $45.00. This is a long, detailed and knowledge able history of the Helsinki process, from the origins of the Conference on

Security and Cooperation in Europe to the recent

past. The author, who served for many

years as Director of International Policy Research at B'nai B'rith, concentrates

almost wholly on the human rights com

ponent of the process; the important eco

nomic and security dimensions will be

the work of another author. He tells the

story extremely well, having closely fol

lowed the issues through the years and

been personally acquainted with many of

the participants. Initially the United

States was quite skeptical and played a

passive role in the Helsinki process, Sec

retary of State Kissinger viewing it as

either inconsequential or a Soviet ploy. But its value as an instrument with which

to press for improved human rights in the

Soviet Union and Eastern Europe even

tually made for a turnaround in the

American approach. How this came

about is at the heart of this tale.

Multilateralism Matters: The Theory and

Praxis of an Institutional Form, edited

BY JOHN GERARD RUGGIE. NewYork:

Columbia University Press, 1993, 474

pp. $60.00.

[152] FOREIGN AFFAIRS Volume72No.4

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