The Foreign Service Journal, November 2013

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2013 25 Policy & Issues Interesting Times: China, America and the Shifting Balance of Prestige Chas W. Freeman Jr., Just World Books, 2012, $25.20, paperback, 355 pages. China’s rise to global power is happening faster than many realize, and a major shift in American foreign policy toward that country is in order. This is the view of Chas Freeman Jr., a distinguished diplomat with a long history of dealing with China. Interesting Times is a compilation of 24 of Freeman’s most trenchant works in the area of U.S.-China relations, including his perception of the current issues facing both Beijing and Washing- ton. Freeman insists that the two nations’ complicated relation- ship is exacerbated by their constant misperception of each other and their desire to attain (in China’s case) and maintain (in the U.S. case) a rightful position at the head of the global order. Chas Freeman Jr. began his Foreign Service career in India in 1965. He served as the main interpreter on President Richard Nixon’s revolutionary visit to China in 1972, and then as direc- tor of Chinese and Mongolian affairs at the State Department, deputy chief of mission at Embassy Beijing, and assistant secre- tary of Defense. He was also ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War (1989-1992). He is the author of America’s Misadventures in the Middle East (Just World Books, 2012), Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy (United States Institute of Peace, 1997) and Diplomat’s Dictionary (United States Institute of Peace, 1994). Aid, Insurgencies and Conflict Transformation: When Greed Is Good Rob Kevlihan, Routledge, 2012, $135, hardcover, 152 pages. This book explores the question of how international humanitarian aid affects civil wars and insurgencies, using three case studies: Northern Ireland, South Sudan and Tajikistan. Rob Kevlihan finds evidence for two distinct effects of aid on intranational conflicts. First, assistance can alleviate the underly- ing causes of insurgency movements and facilitate negotiations. Second, however, aid can become a source of revenue for the rebel groups as social-service organizations provide material and financial assistance to victims of the conflict. Kevlihan explains the way insurgency organizations insert themselves as middlemen between international aid organiza- tions and the target population victimized by the conflict in order to increase revenue for their cause. Surprisingly, his research suggests that the greed exhibited by armed rebel groups can have positive effects, depending on the specific conditions of the con- flict and type of insurgency movement involved. The spouse of USAID FSO Laurel Fain, Rob Kevlihan works in Accra as an adviser to the Regional Peace and Governance Office in USAID’s West Africa Division. This book is part of a series on security and conflict management edited by Fen Osler Jampson, Pamela Aal and former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker. Civil-Military Relations and Shared Responsibility: A Four-Nation Study Dale R. Herspring, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013, $65, hardcover and e-book (same price for both), 349 pages. In his latest book, Dale R. Herspring com- pares and contrasts the defense establish- ments in the United States, Germany, Canada and Russia to identify factors that allow some civilian and military organizations to operate more productively in a political context than others. Unlike such scholars as Samuel P. Huntington and Michael C. Desch, the author approaches this subject from a new angle, mili- tary culture, arguing that the optimal form of civil-military rela- tions is one of responsibility shared by the two groups. Herspring outlines eight factors that contribute to conditions that promote and support that process, such as civilian leaders not interfer- ing in the military’s promotion process and civilian respect for military symbols and traditions. Students of civil-military relations will find much to debate in Herspring’s framework, while students of defense policy will appreciate his brief overviews of each country’s post-World War II political and policy landscapes. Dale R. Herspring, a Foreign Service officer from 1971 to 1991, served mainly in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, specializ- ing in political-military affairs. The author or editor of more than a dozen books and numerous articles, he has been the Univer- sity Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Kansas State University since 1993.