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The International Ambitions of Mao and Nehru: National Efficacy Beliefs and the Making of Foreign Policy . ANDREW BINGHAM KENNEDY . Cambridge and New York : Cambridge University Press , 2012. ix + 261 pp. $99.00. ISBN 978-0-521-19357-2
Book Reviews
At a time when much of Sinology remains narrowly focused on thick description and/or deep analysis of greater China, it is refreshing to review an innovative effort at cross-national comparison with an elegant conceptual framework.
On the surface of it, a book pairing Mao Zedong and Jawaharlal Nehru may seem curious. Beyond the obvious parallel that both men launched Asian countries into new orbits from a heretofore Eurocentric planet, what is the basis for the comparison? The logic, according to Andrew Kennedy, is that two of the most remarkably "bold" national leaders of the mid-20th century provide ideal initial cases upon which to test a new theoretical framework. The author introduces the concept of "efficacy beliefs" and identifies two analytically distinct types: "martial" and "moral." According to Kennedy, while both leaders chose to pursue "costly" national strategies (pp. 10-11), each adopted a different approach on the basis of their contrasting belief systems. Mao had a "great sense of...