The Background to Current Affairs

401 Pages·1970·42.55 MB·English

by  D. W. Crowley M.A.(N.Z.)

THE BACKGROUND TO
CURRENT AFFAIRS
THE
BACKGROUND
TO
CURRENT AFFAIRS
D. W. CROWLEY
M.A.(N.Z.), Ph.D.(Lond.)
Fifth Edition
Macmillan Education
©D. W. Crowley 1958, rg7o
First Edition 1958
Reprinted, with alterations, January 1959
Reprinted August 1959
Second Edition rg6o
Reprinted (three times) rg6r
Third Edition 1963
Reprinted rg64, 1965
Fourth Edition rg66
Reprinted, with alterations, rg67
Fifth Edition 1970
Published by
MACMILLAN AND CO LTD
Little Essex Street London we~
and also at Bombay Calcutta and Madras
Macmillan South Africa (Publishers) Pty Ltd Johannesburg
The Macmillan Company qf Australia Pty Ltd Melbourne
The Macmillan Company qfCanada Ltd Toronto
St Martin's Press Inc New York
Gill and Macmillan Ltd Dublin
ISBN 978-0-333-10940-3 ISBN 978-1-349-15358-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-15358-9
PREFACE
THIS book has been written in the belief that the most helpful
approach to an understanding of current affairs is to try to
study them in perspective. It is an attempt to identify and ex
plain the main historical forces operating in the contemporary
world and to clarify the assumptions behind the conflicting
policies of the powers -in other words, to stand back a little
from the trees in order to see something of the shape of the
woods.
The main problem has been lack of space. There are anum
ber of omissions that may seem strange to some readers. The
writer can only plead that the decision about what to include
and what to omit was often a difficult one. It was made largely
on grounds of what seemed most important to explain; even so
the main difficulty has been to keep within manageable length
without making the treatment too general to justify the argu
ment presented.
I am indebted to many persons, of whom I can name only a
few, for assistance and encouragement. Professor S. G. Ray
bould, Director of the Department of Adult Education and
Extra-Mural Studies, the University of Leeds, has as always
been most helpful. I am also indebted to members of the
clerical staff of the Department for assistance with typing. I owe
particular gratitude to Captain E. D. Dougherty, of the Royal
Army Educational Corps, for reading and commenting upon
some of the chapters in typescript, and for general encourage
ment. I must also thank the publishers and printers for their
special pains in making possible the speedy publication that a
book of this kind requires. Above all, I am immensely in
debted to my wife for her patience and forbearance.
D. W. C.
v
CONTENTS
CHAPTBR PAGE
PREFACE v
INTRODUCTION
I.
BRITAIN AND THE PosT-WAR WoRLD I
Dynamic forces in the post-war world: nationalism and
internationalism - anti-colonialism - the rise of the
'super-powers': the USSR and the United States
the effect of these developments upon Britain's posi
tion-Britain's economic situation
INTERNATIONALISM IN THE POST-WAR WORLD
II. A
THE CoMMONWEALTH- FAMILY OF NATIONS 18
Evolution - present structure-points of strain -
the need for greater centralisation-the difficulties
III. I.
EMERGENT CoMMONWEALTH - BRITISH
CoLONIAL PoLICY 37
Principles and problems of political development-the
tendency to federation -social and economic develop
ment-the pressing need for capital
IV. II.
EMERGENT CoMMONWEALTH- SoME OF THE
MORE PROMINENT NEW MEMBERS 52
Ghana-Nigeria-Uganda-Malaya and Singa-
pore-the West Indies- Malta
V. RAciAL 6g
BLACK AND WHITE: THE PRoBLEM
Apartheid - Partnership-Kenya-racial policies
of other powers
VI. rro
THE UNITED NATIONS
Dangers of the balance-of-power system-the League
of Nations and the United Nations-associated inter
national organisations-GATT-prospects for world
government
vii
Vlll CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
VII. THE WoRLD DIVIDED - I. CoMMUNISM I28
Marxism - Soviet foreign policy - the satellite sys
tem-Soviet communism since the death of Stalin
VIII. THE WoRLD DIVIDED-II. NATO
The West's response to Soviet policy - a reversion to
the balance-of-power system-the United States and
NATO-structure-Spain, Scandinavia, Yugo
slavia - achievements of NATO - present prob
lems
IX. No MAN's LAND- GERMANY I72
Partition-rearmament-the Saar-the suggestion
of neutralisation-Austria-the problem of reuni
fication-the Germans today-De Gaulle
X. SuPRANATIONALISM-THE EuROPEAN MovEMENT 202
The 'European movement'-early disappointment-
the Schuman Plan - EDC -Britain and Europe -
Euratom-the Common Market and Free Trade
Area
NATIONALISM IN THE POST-WAR WORLD
XI. THE NEW GIANT IN THE FAR EAST: COMMUNIST
CHINA AND HER NEIGHBOURS 222
The Chinese Revolution - Formosa - China and the
USSR-Tibet-Japan-Korea
XII. SuB-CoNTINENT DIVIDED: INDIA, PAKISTAN,
CEYLON
India's neutralism, Pakistan and the West-the
aftermath of partition-instability in Pakistan -
'Pakhtoonistan' - the rivers - Kashmir-the en
claves-Nepal-India's development problems
Ceylon
XIII. PowER-VACUUM: SouTH EAST AsiA
South East Asia and the West-the Indo-China
crisis - the Geneva settlement-SEATO - the
Bandung Conference-Siam - the Philippines
Indonesia - Burma - Indo-China since Geneva
the Colombo Plan
CONTENTS IX
CHAPTI!R PAGE
XIV. THE MIDDLE EAST - I. THE ARABs AND THE
WEST
The Arab world - Israel - the Canal Zone base -
the Baghdad Pact-CENTO-Nasser - the Aswan
Dam-the Suez incident-the United States and the
Arabs
XV. THE MIDDLE EAST- II. PERIPHERY 331
Cyprus - the Sudan - the Arabian Protectorates -
Turkey-Greece-Persia - French North Mrica
XVI. THE AMERICAN CoNTINENTS 349
The American system of government - the negro
problem -the agricultural problem-Latin America
-Cuba-the 'Alliance for Progress'
THE FUTURE
XVII. THE PROBLEM oF NucLEAR WEAPONS
Implications of the atom and hydrogen bombs -
'massive' or 'graduated' deterrence-the disarma
ment discussions - should nuclear weapons be dis
carded? - Britain and the future
APPENDIXES
I. Membership of the United Nations, June 1969 375
II. Membership of the Commonwealth ofNations 377
III. A Guide to the Membership of Western Inter-
national Organisations 379
INDEX 380
LIST OF MAPS
PAGB
The New Shape ofGeo-Politics I 57
The European Alignment 164
The Far East 238
India and her Neighbours 262
The Middle East 306
Israel's Disputed Frontiers 3II
Chapter One
BRITAIN AND THE POST-WAR
WORLD
I
n the middle of this twentieth century the world is passing
through a curious, disjointed phase in its history. Moreover,
when every allowance is made for the natural inclination
always to regard one's own age as a time of crisis, it also seems
almost certainly a crucial phase. Four revolutionary develop
ments, completely changing the whole character ofw orld affairs,
have made themselves apparent since the end of the recent war;
the reason why the new phase seems disjointed is the fact that,
while three of these are closely inter-related, the fourth appears
to be totally opposed to them. The four developments are these:
the outmoding of nationalism as the main dynamic of the more
advanced countries, resulting in a pressing need to reorganise
their activities upon an international scale; the emergence of the
two 'super-powers'-the United States and the Soviet Union
- that now dominate the world to a degree quite unprece
dented; the attainment - for good or for evil - of the ability
to release nuclear power; and the emergence of nationalism
among the large group of more backward countries where pre
viously it has not been an important force.
A brief glance at these developments shows the first three to
be closely inter-linked. It is the stage now reached in their
technological progress that has made nationalism obsolescent in
the more advanced countries. This new stage is marked partly
by the harnessing of atomic power; and the obsolescence of
nationalism has been demonstrated most clearly by the domin
ance of the two super-powers. Just as, about five hundred years
ago, at the beginning of modern times, the spread of trade and,
following this, the evolution of industry outmoded the petty
principalities of medieval Europe and necessitated the creation
of nation-states, so the development of new technological de-
l