Review

Author(s): Malcolm Chalmers

Review by: Malcolm Chalmers
Source: International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), Vol. 76, No.
1 (Jan., 2000), p. 156
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the Royal Institute of International Affairs
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2626220
Accessed: 17-06-2016 13:17 UTC

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Book reviews

The arms dynamic in world politics. By Barry Buzan and Eric Herring. Boulder, CO:
Lynne Rienner. I998. 324pp. Index. Pb.: /I6.95. ISBN I 55587 596 3.

As they evolve through successive editions, the best international relations textbooks provide a
sensitive barometer of changing academic concerns and fashions. This book, an extensively
revised and updated version of Barry Buzan's I987 textbook An introduction to strategic studies:
military technology and international relations (hereafter ISS) is an excellent example of this tradition.
Buzan and Herring readily acknowledge that, by the early I99Os, ISS was already 'badly out of
date' (p. xi). In 1993, therefore, they began work on a successor volume, designed to reorient the
analysis in ISS towards the post-Cold War strategic environment. Of particular interest to this
reviewer, the authors also quickly abandoned the idea that the book should be 'an introduction to
strategic studies', arguing that the convergence between strategic studies and peace studies had
made the distinction unnecessary.
The basic structure of The arms dynamic in world politics is largely unchanged from the original
ISS. Part one focuses, as before, on the revolutions in military technology that have taken place
since the industrial revolution, and the processes by which they have spread worldwide. Part two
updates ISS's analysis of the implications of the arms dynamic for military security, providing an
excellent account of both action-reaction models ('arms races') and domestic structure models,
such as 'military-industrial complexes' (MICs). Part four discusses the view that military means
are themselves a source of security problems and reviews in turn how arms control, disarmament
and non-offensive defence can respond to these problems.
Much of the content of these three sections remains substantially the same as in ISS. In Part
three, by contrast, more radical changes have been made. A new chapter on 'Force' assesses why
a Western 'zone of peace' has developed, a phenomenon largely overlooked in ISS. Perhaps
rather bravely in the light of recent inter-state conflicts, Buzan and Herring also argue that 'the
contemporary use of force is primarily intra-state' even in the 'zone of war' that exists in the rest
of the world. A second, and fascinating, new chapter examines the ways in which weapons are used
as 'symbols' in politics, often in ways that diverge in critical ways from their material importance.
In the best tradition of good textbooks, this book provokes protest at some of its judgements.
I found the rather uncritical acceptance of the pacifying impact of economic interdependence (p.
I 3 8) unconvincing. I would also have liked the extended discussion of the momentum created by
domestic arms industries (or MICs) to have been complemented by a parallel 'domestic structure'
account of the role of politically powerful armed forces. Yet these are details. The arms dynamic in
world politics succeeds admirably in its efforts to place military technology within the broader
context of military security and world politics. It will be an important resource for scholars and
advanced students of military security. It provides a structured and balanced overview, together
with a comprehensive bibliography. It should be a 'must buy' for security studies courses.

Malcolm Chalmers, University of Bradford

Endgame in NATO's enlargement: the Baltic States, NATO and Ukraine. By Yaroslav
Bilinsky. London, Westport, CT: Praeger. i999. I48pp. Index. /43.95. ISBN 0 275 96363 2.

Ukraine and Russia: a fraternal rivalry. By Anatol Lieven. Washington DC: United States
Institute of Peace Press. I999. I82pp. Index. Pb.: $19.95. ISBN I 878379 87 9.

Ukraine and European security. Edited by David E. Albright and Semyen J. Appatov.
Basingstoke: Macmillan. 1999. 288pp. Index. /45.00. ISBN 0 333 7271I 8.

Yaroslav Bilinsky's short monograph sets out to argue two points. First, that NATO's endgame
should be to simultaneously include Ukraine and the three Baltic states within the second wave of
NATO enlargement. Second, the inclusion of these four states within NATO would serve to
prevent another Molotov-Ribentrop pact from consigning them again to within Russia's sphere
of influence. In many ways therefore, Bilinsky's volume can be regarded as an answer to that of

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