Research Catalog

Title

Tension between opposites : reflections on the practice and theory of politics / Paul H. Nitze.

Author

Nitze, Paul H., 1907-2004

Publication

New York : Scribner ; Toronto : Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York : Maxwell Macmillan International, c1993.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xii, 212 p., [8] p. of plates : ill.; 22 cm.

Summary

One of the original architects of America's postwar foreign policy, notable for a lifetime of public service, Ambassador Paul Nitze brings to his new book the full flowering of his skill as a political theorist and practitioner. Among the great diplomats of his era, Nitze is perhaps unique in his insistence upon the equal importance of sound abstract principles combined with action. "Tension between opposites" is the key to harmony, he states. Pragmatically, he sees this pattern in the problems posed, for instance, by the individual versus society, the East versus the West, power versus responsibility. Successful judgments, successful decisions derive from striving to reach a harmony in this tension between opposites. What makes Nitze's book so valuable and readable are his personal insights, concrete and anecdotal, on the major international matters of the postwar era: George Kennan and the West's containment policy, Soviet arms policy, the roles of Truman, James Forrestal, Will Clayton, Dean Acheson, and George Marshall. Nitze's forthrightness is a pleasure - his shrewd and affectionate tribute to George Shultz's wisdom and decency is typical, as well as his evident closeness to such giants as George Marshall and Dean Acheson, a closeness that was unaffected when he differed with them. Looking forward, he offers a framework for the United States and its Western allies to deal with the Serbian tyrant Milosevic, and in conclusion, he brilliantly identifies the future problems America must prepare to confront. Tension Between Opposites will find its place on the shelves next to the Indispensable works on international affairs of Charles Bohlen, Dean Acheson, and George Kennan.

Subject

• 1993-2001
• United States > Foreign relations > 1993-2001

Note

• "A Robert Stewart book."

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-201) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Introduction: On the Twentieth -- The American -- Century -- Ch. 1. On Political Theory and the Tension of Opposites -- Ch. 2. Political Theory and Value Systems -- Ch. 3. Toward an Ethical Framework -- Ch. 4. Russia, the Soviet Union, and Value Systems -- Ch. 5. The Practice of Politics: Harry S Truman and American Heroes -- Ch. 6. Further on the Practice of Politics: James Forrestal and the Will to Succeed -- Ch. 7. Will Clayton: Virtue and Competence -- Ch. 8. George Kennan and Policy Planning: The Nexus Between Theory and Practice -- Ch. 9. Dean Acheson and the Virtues and Limitations of Elegance -- Ch. 10. George C. Marshall and the Practice of Democracy -- Ch. 11. George Shultz and Loyalty -- Epilogue: The United States and the Future Practice of Politics.

ISBN

068419628X :

LCCN

^^^93012874^

OCLC

• 27936811
• SCSB-13481834

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library