U.S. STAKES IN ASIA
Thomas, John Seabury
U.S. Stakes in Asia Southeast Asia in Perspective, by John Kerry King. Macmillan. 292 pp. $5. American-Asian Tensions, by Robert Strausz-Hupe, Alvin J. Cottrell, and James E. Dougherty, editors....
...Though apparently the United States differs from the Asian nations by placing "defense of the free world" above the "freedom for colonial areas," essentially both India and the United States place national security and well-being above both— and may well be drawn together in future policy objectives...
...Reviewed by John Seabury Thomson WHEN Malaya gains its independence, now set for August 1957, almost all of colonial Asia will have passed into history...
...3) be Sufficiently flexible to permit "dynamic American action before rather than after" conditions deteriorate in-io major crises...
...King does an unusually careful job of analyzing the growth of U.S...
...King's purpose is to present the long-term importance of Southeast Asia to the United States, to analyze the policies and problems of the United States in dealing with that area, and to offer suggestions for the improvement of U.S...
...It is in this area of proposals for the future that the second of the books under review, American-Asian Tensions, falls short...
...It is often hard to !(¦ where any vital American interem| are at stake in Burma, ThailandJI Laos, Cambodia, or any of the omefl individual Southeast Asian statet|a But, as King says, when the area ill considered as a whole, "AmericaiM interests in Southeast Asia becomgfl extremely significant, perhaps evflff| decisive...
...The US...
...Clearly, as the Indian views of Russia have been shaken by the Hungarian crisis—and as some of the smaller Asian neutrals, such as Burma and Ceylon, seem to be cutting loose from the Indian lead—so American policy was shaken by Suez...
...King's proposal is essentially a call for a return to diplomacy, to flow ibility and adaptability in foreign relations—especially in dealing with the neutralists, whose chosen coursesn he feels, will have to be respectifl and dealt with realistically...
...3.75...
...While King's book deals with contemporary conditions in Southeast Asia and U.S...
...vital to the United States—165 million secure and relatively well off" Southeast Asians may only gratify American humanitarian interests but: the same 165 million, unhappy and depressed, "would prove a threat to"* the peace and an opportunity for...
...In the current flow of books on Asia two recent publications deal directly with the problems of American policy in that area...
...AiuiJ above all, the people of the area are...
...Even though the events of the past two months both in Suez and in Hungary have made U.S...
...policy and the assets and liabilities which the United States has with the newly independent and highly nationalistic Southeast Asian peoples...
...The jarring tensions of today may be cushioned by the developments of tomorrow...
...210 pp...
...totalitarian gains...
...These interests are multiple...
...The only extensive reminders of European colonial empires will be northern Borneo, New Guinea, the British Crown Colony of Hongkong, and the Portuguese outposts of Macao, Goa, and Timor...
...The Strausz-Hupe, Cottrell, Dougherty work, though an excellent study, is likely to be of shorter life and is to a certain extent dated even now...
...With the neutrals they find the tensions indicate that in their foreign policies the two countries [India and the United States] are likely to be striving to-Ward incompatible objectives for Years to come...
...But the Asian response to colonialism will linger on...
...With Egypt (the neu-TRAllist of "non-cooperation") the conclusions of the authors have been almost entirely nullified by the events of the past few months—by the armed intervention in Suez and the shaking of the Western Alliance...
...RawJ materials such as rubber, tin, oil, and...
...By a stretch of the definition Egypt is included...
...Praeger...
...must (1) its policies to the "economic, political, and psychological currents •prevailing in Southeast Asia...
...The development of American polI-cy toward this area actually begins with the end of World War II...
...The authors have done an excellent job of reviewing American relations with five Asian countries over the past few years, spotlighting the "jarring tensions" rather than the "gratifying harmonies," and on the basis of their review have predicted the probable course of future relations...
...Lookinfl to the coming decade, in a sectiofl called the "Test for Tomorrow Eprojects five conditions for a ful policy...
...As King implies, anti-Communism is not the sole message of the United States—nor is military assistance alone sufficient to attract support in Southeast Asia...
...The voice of the 28 Asian and African members in the United Nations is the voice of anti-colonialism and independence, whatever other tones it may take on from time to time...
...It explains our late awakening to their impor tance at the time of China's fall toil the Communists, and the delay in policy forced upon the United States by the outbreak of the Korean WaR-The most important contribution of this excellent work, however, comer with the concrete proposals for bet tering American-Asian ties...
...The problems are well chosen and the emphasis upon the areas of friction is sound, but the conclusions seem unimaginative...
...And it is well Cor Americans to recognize the intensity of this bond among the ex-colonials...
...policy, it is one of the rare books of long-term value to the student of Asian affairs and to the general reader...
...Its conclusions appear based on the assumption that foreign policy is immutable when, in fact, foreign policies—though not objectives—change with crises...
...The strategic geographic location of the...
...and (5) determine "the meaningful message in the realm of ideas which it can convey to Southeast Asians" and the most effective technique for delivering the message...
...John Kerry King in Southeast Asia in Perspective analyzes America's relations with the small countries south of China and east of India...
...food surpluses are growingly inv=j portant to us and our allies...
...In American-Asian Tensions Robert Strausz-Hupe, Alvin J. Cottrell, and James E. Dougherty examine the sources of friction between the United States and an arbitrary selection of Asian countries...
...standing^B diplomacy with Southeast AsJS countries...
...2) jjfcdop1 a "more dynamic and positive |heme than anti-communism...
...Peninsula, cannot be overestimated...
...area, and particularly the Malay...
...And here is the essential weakness of the study, however excellent it is in highlighting the differences between the United States and the Asian countries...
...WhaT King suggests for Asia can properly be applied to American policy to ward other nations as well...
...policies more meaningful to Asian leaders, much more is needed...
...The Straits of Malacca between Malaya and Sumatra rank with^ Panama, Suez, Gibraltar, and thfrj Dardanelles among the most im-> portant sea routes of the world...
...India and Indonesia (as neutrals), Japan and the Philippines (allies), and Egypt are the subjects of the study—chosen to give as nearly as possible a cross-section of the types of problems which the United States must face...
...With our allies, the authors find the tensions to be of limited importance, and cooperation may be expected to continue (though Soviet wooing of Japan should be watched with concern...
Vol. 21 • February 1957 • No. 2
