Dependent Areas in the Post-war World

Holcombe, Arthur N. (1941). Dependent Areas in the Post-war World. Boston: World Peace Foundation.

Abstract: This little book was written before the United States became a belliger- ent. It is one of a series designed to provide informed comment for Ameri- cans on the problems of international organization which they will have to face when the war ends. It reviews the various types of dependencies, the various methods of administering them, the various abuses which may arise from exploitation of the inhabitants or unfairness to other nations, and the possible types of international order within which the governance of dependencies will have to be arranged. It relates these questions to American ideas of justice and of self-interest. The author's name is a guaranty of scholarship and impartiality. But to treat post-war issues one by one involves serious risks of over- simplification. The problem of dependencies is closely related to that of the treatment of minorities by autonomous states and to that of states which do not deserve to be autonomous. All these problems are condi- tioned by the general scheme of world-order, which Professor Holcombe does discuss, and by two questions which he does not discuss: the rela- tions between peoples of different race and culture and the task of reconcil- ing the American ideas of what is fitting with those of other nations, whether friend or foe.

Extra details:

DOI: 10.1093/ia/19.6-7.378a
MAG: 622205210
CorpusID: 153303357
OpenAlex: W622205210