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BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS Silviu Brucan. World Socialism at the Crossroads: an Insider's View. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1

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BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS Silviu Brucan. World Socialism at the Crossroads: an Insider's View. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1 BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS Silviu Brucan. World Socialism at the Crossroads: An Insider's View. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1987. 208 pp. $37.50. This is a truly unusual book-an original analysis of the less than robust health of socialist systems. The author, Romania's former ambassador to Washington, a former editor-in-chief of the main Party daily, Scinteia, and Professor of Social Sciences at the University of Bucharest, wrote a blunt, bold, straightforward treatise that is free of leaden Marxist jargon and rich in heretical assertions and propositions. According to the author, the scientific-technological revolution is the most profound challenge of our times, with which the East European societies, still handicapped by the legacy of Stalinism, are incapable to cope. A crisis of socialism he charges, is caused by clinging to Stalin's dogmas "which have never been critically reexamined" (p. 111). Accordingly, the economic and technological gap dividing the East from the West is getting wider. In the decade of the 1960s, the scientific-technological revolution which the command type planning system cannot assimilate, spoiled the chances of the East to catch up. Persuasive data are offered in support of these assertions. Brucan argues that these developments rendered obsolete the entire Marxist- Leninist approach to the building of a communist nirvana, and a thorough revision (hence "revisionist," the dreaded deviation) is in order. No economic reform can succeed without restoring the primacy of economic criteria over political/ideological criteria. Moreover, industrialization should be at best a premise, not the goal of a socialist society. The frame is chronological, the book is divided into three parts: the past, the present, the future. As to the matters past, Brucan points out that Marx spoke of only two types of society, capitalist and communist, and that the concept of a "socialist society," inserted by Stalin, is thoroughly non-Marxist, later to become the core conservatism permeating Soviet officialdom. Brucan puts a somewhat surprising emphasis on the legacy of Lenin's NEP, which he views as very relevant to both the socialist orbit and to all the Third World countries (p. 15). Stalin's pernicious role is dealt with in some detail, as is the characterized as "reform "post-1953 period, aptly the economy without really trying." The author concludes in Part Two (The Present) that not only the economic but also the political system is outdated. The Leninist substance of the Party must be abolished, along with the virtual life-peerage of the nomeklatura; and the principle of separation of powers must be observed. Brucan advocates an introduction of Party pluralism, i.e., an accommodation of interests of all the social forces under the umbrella of a one-Party system rather than a multi-Party system which he dismisses without much justification. In Part Three, the author delves into the future, i.e., a subject from which the Marxists-Leninists conspicuously shy away. Brucan has no inhibition in stating that in this contest of modem economic acumen, the USSR and its partners "simply do not count" (p. xvii). The use of force has ceased to be the decisive factor in changing power relations. The author praises China for having been the first to grasp the new reality of geopolitics, to redirect her energies from a military buildup to an economic drive for modernization. He projects that by the year 2010, the Soviet Union will be pushed back from second to fourth place in the world economy, behind the United 82 States, China, and Japan. Ergo, China according to this scenario, will not only outstrip the USSR but Japan as well. Such prospects confront the Kremlin with a dramatic choice-to adhere to its old-fashioned ways as a military power or to dare to make a radical change in both its economic policy and global strategy. Brucan's laudatory assessment of Hungary's economic reforms (p. 79f.) seems excessive. Even the official Hungarian sources acknowledge that most people's living standards have declined as has the average life expectancy for men (by five years). Referring to Soviet agriculture, the author asserts that nature has been "particularly generous" (p. 61), yet the subsequent information rather invalidates this premise. Somewhat oddly, the gist of the author's thought is presented not in the Conclusion but in the Introduction of the book (pp. ix-xii). This eminently useful book is carefully edited. In the Index twenty references are made to Gorbachev, while Ceaxescu, not surprisingly, is not mentioned at all. OUo U16 State Universityof New York Catherine Andreyev. Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Movement: Soviet Reality and Émigré Theories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. xiv, 251 pp. $34.50. What is a decent person to do when his country, a merciless tyranny, is attacked by another? This was the dilemma of General Vlasov, one of the ablest military leaders who survived the purges. Vlasov had served in the Red Army with distinction, but when he was captured by the Germans he was willing to make common cause with enemy and thereby substantially harmed the interest his homeland. In other words, he became a traitor. The history of the Vlasov movement reveals much about the attitude of ordinary citizens toward their country in war-time. Undoubtedly, Catherine Andreyev chose an important subject. It must have been a difficult topic to research. Very little information is available about Vlasov and his movement: few participants survived and most documents were destroyed. Andreyev examined all the available evidence, talked to those who were still alive and presented her findings in a reasoned and objective manner. Unfortunately she organized her material in a clumsy way. The first section of the monograph tells the story of General Vlasov and his movement in a straightforward fashion. Since there is very little material available, the author should not be held responsible: but Vlasov remains a shadowy figure. The author approaches the dilemma of General Vlasov with considerable sympathy. She describes a courageous . man, who was politically naive, but one who saw himself as a patriot and who was by no means a reactionary. She points out more than once that at the end of the war the General had the opportunity to escape to Spain and survive, but that he chose to share the fate of those who had followed him. Other major participants, such as the fascinating M. A. Zykov, remain altogether mysterious. Zykov, at least for awhile, greatly influenced the ideology of the movement, yet we do not know who he was. One day in the middle of the war he simply disappeared without a trace. The second section is devoted to an analysis of the various manifestos of the movement. Of course, ideology is a most important topic. But it was an error to separate this discussion from the body of the narrative. Andreyev always stays close .
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