From Stalin to Khrushchev, by G.J. Jones

[p020] Oxford University Press), 36s. From Stalin to Khrushchev: Goronwy J. Jones. Linden Press. 12s. 6d. 99 foreign policy of the October Revolu- tion, and strive to bring the Soviet Union back to Lenin’s path in this field as well. In the not-so-long run, all progress inside the country de- pends on the fate of the world struggle against capitalism. * * * Alexander Dallin has compiled, for the studenis of the Russian Institute at Columbia University, a selection ‘The Great Contest’ consists of the of articles and lectures, originally texts of lectures given by Isaac published between 1949 and 1959, Deutscher in Canada in 1959, in mostly by American specialists, on problems of Soviet foreign policy. which he examined internal develop- ments in the Soviet Union with par- ticular reference to their probable bearing on foreign policy and the prospects of co-existence between ‘Bast? and ‘West’. Deutscher empha- sises something which his trans- Atlantic audiences doubtless badly needed to be shown, namely, that the reaction against Stalinism in the Soviet Union is in no sense a re- action against Marxism, and that the increasing desire among the Soviet masses, as their standard of living and (especially) of education rises, for more contact with people in the capitalist countries, does not at all mean sympathy with capitalism. ‘On the whole, the last few years have en- hanced and deepened what may be described as the socialist conscious- ness of the masses.’ Khrushchev’s policy of subordina- ting the world Communist movement to the need he sees for maintaining the status quo is described, and the Middle East sector of this policy characterized as ‘almost a replica of Stalin’s policy in China in 1925-27’, According to Deutscher, the Soviet leaders are anxious to avoid any major upheavals in the outside world before they have reached in Russia a point in economic development where their superiority will enable them to dominate any crisis situa- tion. He does not discuss how far this policy may be harmful to Soviet security by its effect in discouraging and setting back revolutionary forces in the capitalist world; and along with this omission goes his failure to consider to what extent the Western imperialisms are likely to sit and wait for Russia to get too strong for them. without moving to crush her in good time. One hopes that the Soviet workers, as they increase their ‘socialist con- sciousness’, may tediscover the The purpose uniting all the contribu- tors is: how better to understand the Soviet Union in order to combat it. Included are the two important articles by State Department officials which appeared pseudonymously in the journal Foreign Affairs: “The Sources of Soviet Conduct’, by ‘X’ (George F. Kennan), 1947, and ‘Stalin on Revolution’, by ‘ Historicus’ (George A. Morgan), 1949. Professor Daniel Bell’s ‘Ten Theories in Search of Reality’ contains some deadpan mickey-taking at the expense of the more owlish of the Kremlinologists. * * * Already joint author .of ‘United Nations for the Classroom’, Mr. Goronwy Jones presents in ‘From ‘Stalin to Khrushchev’ a somewhat pedestrian survey of Soviet foreign relations since the 1930s. The rearm- ament of West Germany was a Good Thing, and Mr. Jones is shocked by the repeated failure of ‘Left-wing dissidents’ (Michael Foot is specified) to understand the military needs of capitalism. He wants a Permanent U.N. Guard Force set up to control ‘threatened borders’. BLP.