The Present Struggle for Power

The Present Struggle for Power

THE PATTERN OF WORLD CONFLICT. By G. L. Arnold,
New York: Dial Press, 250 pp., $4.00.

The series of wars and revolutions that mark twentieth century history show no sign of having exhausted themselves. No sooner do the power blocs patch up temporary and tacit agreements for a period of “peaceful competition,” than there erupt new rebellions in Africa among the unconsulted masses. Within the Communist world a whole train of tensions follows upon the struggle to succeed Stalin. In the West rumblings of discontent (France, Spain) continue. The hoped-for stabilization is a mirage. And in the wake of these crises, new generations seek to find their way amid the wreckage of yesterdays plans and ambitions.

It is to the credit of the English political writer, G. L. Arnold, whose work is familiar to the readers of Dissent, that in The Pattern of World Conflict he has managed, with both skill and realism, to cut th...