Suggestions for
Further Reading

Since the subject of this book is vast and complex, the length of a reading list dealing with it could be extended almost indefinitely. This would be undesirable, however, both because of the obvious advantages of brevity and because of the fact that much of the available material is either of rather poor quality or too specialized to be listed here. The comments that follow will accordingly be brief and selective. It should not be assumed that I consider any relevant title not listed here to be substandard in some way; for one thing, there are undoubtedly some such titles with which I am not familiar.

Much of the best writing on current Asian international politics, as already indicated in the preface, is contained in articles appearing in the better newspapers; obviously these cannot be itemized here, except to say that the articles by Selig Harrison on Japan in Asia (referred to in Chapter XI) appeared in The Washington Post for February 25, 26, 27, 28, March 1, 2, 4, 1973-Similarly, much valuable writing appears in the form of periodical articles, but these cannot be detailed here; any writer who feels offended by this omission can take comfort from the fact I am leaving out some articles of my own as well. A key to this field is of course a good periodical guide, such as the Bulletin of the Public Affairs Information Service or the annual Bibliography of Asian Studies published by the Association for Asian Studies (which includes books as well as articles in Western languages). Likely places in which to look for articles on Asian international politics include some of the general periodicals on world affairs, notably Foreign Affairs (New York), Orbis (Philadelphia), International Affairs (London), and The World Today (London). Useful periodicals on Asian affairs include Asian Survey (University of California, Berkeley), Pacific Affairs (University of British Columbia), The China Quarterly (London), Pacific Community (Tokyo), and Far Eastern Economic Review (Hong Kong; also publishes a yearbook). Problems of Communism (Washington) publishes occasional articles relevant to the subject of this book. Any student of military affairs and their impact on international politics (as well as vice versa) cannot afford to overlook the valuable publications of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London): Survival, The Military Balance, Strategic Survey, and the Adelphi Papers.

Some books that provide useful general background for the study of contemporary Asian international politics are: Paul H. Clyde and Burton F. Beers, The Far East: A History of the Western Impact and the Eastern Response (1830-1970), Fifth Edition, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1971; and Akira Iriye, The Cold War in Asia: A Historical Introduction, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1974. A helpful general book dealing mainly with the foreign policies of the Asian states is Wayne Wilcox, Leo E. Rose, and Gavin Boyd, eds., Asia and the International System, Cambridge, Mass.: Winthrop Publishers, 1972.

On the Cold War and Soviet-American relations, a good brief survey is David Rees, The Age of Containment: The Cold War, 1945-1965, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1967. Invaluable and fascinating material can be found in the first volume of George Kennan’s memoirs (George F. Kennan, Memoirs, 1925-1950, Boston: Little, Brown, 1967). Although rather impressionistic, Adam B. Ulam, The Rivals: America and Russia since World War II, New York: Viking, 1971, can also be recommended.

There is no general book on Soviet politics or foreign policy that can be unreservedly recommended. Two informative recent studies of the Soviet Union’s general role in Asia are Geoffrey Jukes, The Soviet Union in Asia, University of California Press, 1973; and Charles B. McLane, Soviet-Asian Relations, Columbia University Press, 1973. Among the most useful works on Sino-Soviet relations are Donald S. Zagoria, The Sino-Soviet Conflict, 1956-1961, Princeton University Press, 1962; William E. Griffith, The Sino-Soviet Rift, The M. I. T. Press, 1964; William E. Griffith, Sino-Soviet Relations, 1964-1965, The M. I. T. Press, 1967; and Harold C. Hinton, The Bear at the Gate: Chinese Policymaking under Soviet Pressure, Washington: American Enterprise Institute and Stanford, California: Hoover Institution, 1971.

The foreign policy of the Nixon administration, including of course its Asian policy, is dealt with in two recent books by distinguished journalists, on the basis of “inside” information: Henry Brandon, The Retreat of American Power, New York: Doubleday, 1973; and Tad Szulc, Innocents at Home, New York: Viking, 1974. Mr. Szulc’s analysis of the American side of the Vietnam negotiations is seriously in error on one important point. He says that Kissinger made an important concession—that North Vietnamese troops need not leave South Vietnam—for the first time during his visit to Moscow in April 1972, whereas in reality the American demand for their withdrawal had been dropped by October 1970. Some valuable recent books on various aspects of American Asian policy are Bernard K. Gordon, Toward Disengagement in Asia: A Strategy for American Foreign Policy, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1969; Robert Scalapino, American-Japanese Relations in a Changing Era, New York: Library Press, 1972; Roderick MacFarquhar, ed., Sino-American Relations, 1949-yi, New York: Praeger, 1972; and Gene T. Hsiao, ed., Sino-American Detente and Its Policy Implications, New York: Praeger, 1974.

The best recent general book on Japan is Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Fragile Blossom: Crisis and Change in Japan, New York: Harper and Row, 1972. The “superstate” thesis is advanced in Herman Kahn, The Emerging Japanese Superstate: Challenge and Response, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1970. Also useful are John K. Emmerson, Arms, Yen and Power: The Japanese Dilemma, New York: Dunellen, 1971; Donald C. Hellman, Japan and East Asia: The New International Order, New York: Praeger, 1972; and F. C. Langdon, Japan’s Foreign Policy, University of British Columbia Press, 1973.

There has been some excellent writing on the politics and foreign policy of the two Koreas; Gregory Henderson, Korea: The Politics of the Vortex, Harvard University Press, 1968; David C. Cole and Princeton N. Lyman, Korean Development: The Interplay of Politics and Economics, Harvard University Press, 1971; Young C. Kim, ed., Major Powers and Korea, Silver Spring, Md.: Research Institute on Korean Affairs, 1973; and Robert A. Scalapino and Chong-Sik Lee, Communism in Korea, 2 vols., University of California Press, 1972. The best general book on the Korean War is David Rees, Korea: The Limited War, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1964.

Among the useful general books on Chinese politics are Jürgen Domes, The Internal Politics of China, 1949-1972, New York: Praeger, 1973; Harold C. Hinton, An Introduction to Chinese Politics, New York: Praeger, 1973; and A. Doak Barnett, Uncertain Passage: China’s Transition to the Post-Mao Era, Washington: Brookings Institution, 1974. On Chinese foreign policy and various aspects of it, Michael Lindsay, China and the Cold War: A Study in International Politics, Melbourne University Press, 1955; Harold C. Hinton, China’s Turbulent Quest: An Analysis of China’s Foreign Relations since 1949, rev. ed., Indiana University Press, 1972; Neville Maxwell, India’s China War, New York: Anchor Books, 1972; and Melvin Gurtov, China and Southeast Asia—The Politics of Survival: A Study of Foreign Policy Interaction, Lexington, Mass.: D. C. Heath, 1971, can be recommended.

Two especially valuable recent books on South Asia are Norman D. Palmer, The Indian Political System, 2nd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971; and William F. Barnds, India, Pakistan, and the Great Powers, New York: Praeger, 1972.

On Southeast Asia in general, Lucian W. Pye, Southeast Asia’s Political Systems, rev. ed., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1974; Bernard K. Gordon, The Dimensions of Conflict in Southeast Asia, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1966; Peter Lyon, War and Peace in South-East Asia, Oxford University Press, 1969; and Mark W. Zacher and R. Stephen Milne, eds., Conflict and Stability in Southeast Asia, New York: Anchor Books, 1974, are useful.

There is of course a vast literature on the Indochina crisis, much of it polemical and almost worthless. Among the best books on this subject are Dennis J. Duncanson, Government and Revolution in Vietnam, Oxford University Press, 1968; Joseph J. Zasloff and Alan E. Goodman, eds., Indochina in Conflict: A Political Assessment, Lexington, Mass.: D. C. Heath, 1972; Gene T. Hsiao, ed., The Role of External Powers in the Indochina Crisis, Edwardsville, 111.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1973; and Sheldon W. Simon, War and Politics in Cambodia: A Communications Analysis, Duke University Press, 1974. On the American role, a good survey is Peter A. Poole, The United States and Indochina from FDR to Nixon, Hinsdale, 111.: Dryden Press, 1973. The most convenient version of the famous Pentagon Papers (United States government documents on the American involvement in Vietnam from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s) is The Pentagon Papers, New York: Bantam Books, 1971. The Johnson administration’s decision to begin disengaging from Vietnam is ably described in Townsend Hoopes, The Limits of Intervention, rev. ed., New York: McKay, 1974.