Word: hobson
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...application of the see-saw model to the Cold War assumes that if one side initiates a conciliatory act the other will somehow be compelled to reciprocate. But what does the compelling? Mr. Hobson has two answers: world public opinion and "pacific" factions within each government. At best these answers are only probable; and they are dead wrong if both East and West have an interest in prolonging conflict...
...been asserted (by Communists) that capitalist nations thrive on war and (by capitalists) that Communist nations starve for conquest. If both assertions are true, unilateral initiative is impossible, world opinion impotent, and "pacific" factions subversive. Mr. Hobson blithely assumes that both assertions are false and that East and West have something to gain from reduction of tension; he might have given some proof. Some situations in international relations may fit Osgood's idyllic see-saw model, but most seem more like a tug-of-war, in which any slack released by one side is immediately snatched up by the other...
Perhaps it is unfair to expect Mr. Hobson to anticipate and repulse all such attacks in the body of a brief article. But one is dismayed to see him supply the attacker with ammunition. At one point, for example, he accuses the proponents of deterrence with "assuming that command decisions will always be made rationally" and ignoring such "long-term weaknesses" as "accident," "miscalculation," "hysteria," and "the N-th country problem...
Since only two men can ride a see-saw, the mere mention of "N" possibilities for initiative can only be embarrassing to Mr. Hobson when N is greater than 2. As for the harsh words about ignoring the effects of irrationality, miscalculation, hysteria and the like, examine the following (straight faced) quotation and decide to whom they best apply...
...invasion attempt, which is repulsed, but no counterattack on the Chinese mainland. Eventually hostilities peter out. In the meantime we have nevertheless moved the seating of the Chines in the United Nations--Just as If nothing untoward had happened. It would be vital to follow this apparently contradictory policy. . . .[Hobson's emphasis...