INSIDE THE NEAR EAST
Dildine, W. G.
Inside the Near East THE NEAR EAST AND THE GREAT POWERS, edited by Richard N. Frye. Harvard University Press. 214 pp. $3.50. THE UNITED STATES AND TURKEY AND IRAN, by Lewis V. Thomas and Richard...
...II However, the general reader will find here, in clear and handy form, presentations of a number of topics for which he would otherwise have to burrow in newspaper files or obscure publications...
...291 pp...
...Reviewed by W. G. Dildine THE titles of these two books reflect the tendency to view the Near East—or Middle East, the terms being synonymous in current usage—primarily as a stage for power interests from outside the region, with local elements confined to bit parts in the scenario...
...The two books, though differing in approach, are conveniently complementary, as the "Near East" title which Frye has edited is only occasionally tangent to Turkey and Iran...
...The United States and Turkey and Iran is angled at the general reader, with enough well written history to bring him up to date...
...This matter, though abundantly covered by the American press, needs the re-evaluation that retrospect can afford...
...The Turks' spirit, lodged in a healthy body politic, has brought them into full partnership with the West, while the Persians remain in junior status...
...Notable in this regard is a good review of the Palestine problem and the part the United Nations has played in it...
...Frye is also the author of the Iran half of The United States and Turkey and Iran, one of a "United States and—" series edited by Sumner Welles...
...4.25...
...Americans who want to learn something about these two interesting countries will find this book an excellent one to start with...
...The Turks both hate and fear the Russians and are determined to resist them, if need be, The Persians, though they fear the Russians, reserve most of their hatred for the British, whom they accuse of colonial exploitation...
...That the material covered has been left behind by the swift march of events of recent months, especially in Persia, Jordan, and Egypt, does not detract from their usefulness, as the reader can here find background for most of what is now going on, the Egyptian crisis being a notable exception...
...Anyone who has conscientiously tried to follow Arab politics, even in the New York Times, must have felt a sense of frustration...
...The Turks, as Thomas points out, have made virtues of the vicissitudes of history and raised themselves by their own bootstraps to a position of trust and respect in the modern world...
...Equally valuable is a summary of the half century of events leading to the present positions of the various powers in respect to the Near East's rich oil resources...
...This book comprises a series of papers given at Harvard in August, 1950, and suffers from the defects of such compilations in that its articles were originally addressed to fellow specialists or students...
...The contrast shows up again in the two countries' attitudes toward Russia...
...Americans are less well informed on the scheme of Fertile Crescent unity, which has occasioned recurring rivalries among the Arab states...
...THE UNITED STATES AND TURKEY AND IRAN, by Lewis V. Thomas and Richard N. Frye...
...The Persians, after a brief, abortive spurt toward modernism in emulation of the successes of Ata-turk, are still floundering in the morasses of the past...
...Turkey and Iran, adjacent countries, lend themselves well to a study in contrasts...
...It is a real service, therefore, to have included in this book a detailed summary of this question...
...Also missing is a unified treatment of the problem of land tenure and landlordism in the Near East...
...This problem is one which makes the region most vulnerable to Soviet propaganda...
Vol. 15 • December 1951 • No. 12
