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Pandaemonium: Ethnicity in International Politics
Ten years before the Soviet Union collapsed, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan stood almost alone in predicting its demise. As the intelligence community and cold war analysts churned out statistics demonstrating the enduring strength of the Moscow regime, Moynihan, focusing on ethnic conflict,
argued that the end was at hand. Now, with such conflict breaking out across the world, from Central Asia to South Central Los Angeles, he sets forth a general Far from vanishing, ethnicity has been and will be an elemental force in international politics.
Drawing on a lifetime of scholarship, the Senator provides in Pandaemonium a subtle, richly textured account of the process by which theory has grudgingly begun to adapt to reality. Moynihan--whose previous studies range over thirty years from Beyond the Melting Pot (with Nathan Glazer) to
the much acclaimed On the Law of Nations --provides a deep historical look at ethnic conflict around the globe. He shows how the struggles that now absorb our attention have been going on for generations and explain much of modern history. Neither side in the cold war grasped this reality, he
writes. Neither the liberal myth of the melting pot nor the Marxist fantasy of proletarian internationalism could account for ethnic conflict, and so the international system stumbled from one set of miscalculations to another.
Toward the close of World War I, Woodrow Wilson declared the "self-determination of peoples" to be an Allied goal for the peace. Toward the end of World War II, Josef Stalin inserted "self-determination of peoples" into Article I of the United Nations Charter, defining "The Purposes" of the
new world organization. This process has been going on ever since. The first phase, the breaking up of empire, was relatively peaceful. The second phase, presaged by the 1947 partition of India, is certain to be far more troubled, as fifty to a hundred new countries emerge.
Moynihan argues, however, that a dark age of "ethnic cleansing" is not inevitable; that the dynamics of ethnic conflict can be understood, anticipated, and moderated. Ethnic pride can be a source of dignity and of stability, if only its legitimacy is accepted. Moynihan writes in a learned,
reflective at times theoretical, but always in the end directed to issues of fierce immediacy. A splendid achievement, Pandaemonium begins the re-education of Western diplomacy.
argued that the end was at hand. Now, with such conflict breaking out across the world, from Central Asia to South Central Los Angeles, he sets forth a general Far from vanishing, ethnicity has been and will be an elemental force in international politics.
Drawing on a lifetime of scholarship, the Senator provides in Pandaemonium a subtle, richly textured account of the process by which theory has grudgingly begun to adapt to reality. Moynihan--whose previous studies range over thirty years from Beyond the Melting Pot (with Nathan Glazer) to
the much acclaimed On the Law of Nations --provides a deep historical look at ethnic conflict around the globe. He shows how the struggles that now absorb our attention have been going on for generations and explain much of modern history. Neither side in the cold war grasped this reality, he
writes. Neither the liberal myth of the melting pot nor the Marxist fantasy of proletarian internationalism could account for ethnic conflict, and so the international system stumbled from one set of miscalculations to another.
Toward the close of World War I, Woodrow Wilson declared the "self-determination of peoples" to be an Allied goal for the peace. Toward the end of World War II, Josef Stalin inserted "self-determination of peoples" into Article I of the United Nations Charter, defining "The Purposes" of the
new world organization. This process has been going on ever since. The first phase, the breaking up of empire, was relatively peaceful. The second phase, presaged by the 1947 partition of India, is certain to be far more troubled, as fifty to a hundred new countries emerge.
Moynihan argues, however, that a dark age of "ethnic cleansing" is not inevitable; that the dynamics of ethnic conflict can be understood, anticipated, and moderated. Ethnic pride can be a source of dignity and of stability, if only its legitimacy is accepted. Moynihan writes in a learned,
reflective at times theoretical, but always in the end directed to issues of fierce immediacy. A splendid achievement, Pandaemonium begins the re-education of Western diplomacy.
238 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 1993
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About the author
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
67 books49 followersDaniel Patrick “Pat” Moynihan was an American politician and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the United States Senate for New York in 1976, and was re-elected three times (in 1982, 1988, and 1994). He declined to run for re-election in 2000. Prior to his years in the Senate, Moynihan was the United States' ambassador to the United Nations and to India, and was a member of four successive presidential administrations, beginning with the administration of John F. Kennedy, and continuing through Gerald Ford.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 30, 2018
Review in English (not my mother tongue) and Spanish (below):
ENGLISH:
It is a series of five short essays on nationalism, tribalism and ethnicism in international politics.
The senator was very learned, but the text never has a clear direction. You never know what the author wants to tell you, beyond:
1. I predicted that the USSR was not as potent as they said
2. Ethnicity is important in politics and has not been sufficiently taken into account.
3. The "self-determination of peoples" is a problematic concept because nobody knows what a "people" is. ("The phrase is simply loaded with dynamite", in the words of Robert Lansing)
I already knew the last two points. And as for the first one, I also know some prophecy of Moynihan that was comically wrong, so I would't have made such a big deal.
In short, a book full of anecdotes, but without a clear message.
ESPAÑOL:
Se trata de una serie de cinco ensayos cortos sobre el nacionalismo, el tribalismo y el etnicismo en la política internacional.
El senador era muy erudito, pero el texto nunca tiene una dirección clara. Nunca sabes bien lo que el autor quiere decirte, más allá de:
1. Yo predije que la URSS no era tan potente como decían
2. La etnicidad es importante en política y no se la ha tenido suficientemente en cuenta.
3. La "autodeterminación de los pueblos" es un concepto problemático porque nadie sabe bien qué es un "pueblo". ("La frase está simplemente cargada de dinamita", en palabras de Robert Lansing)
Yo ya conocía los dos últimos puntos. Y en cuanto al primero, conozco también alguna profecía de Moynihan que resultó cómicamente equivocada, así que tampoco era para insistir tanto.
En resumen, un libro lleno de anécdotas, pero sin un mensaje demasiado claro.
ENGLISH:
It is a series of five short essays on nationalism, tribalism and ethnicism in international politics.
The senator was very learned, but the text never has a clear direction. You never know what the author wants to tell you, beyond:
1. I predicted that the USSR was not as potent as they said
2. Ethnicity is important in politics and has not been sufficiently taken into account.
3. The "self-determination of peoples" is a problematic concept because nobody knows what a "people" is. ("The phrase is simply loaded with dynamite", in the words of Robert Lansing)
I already knew the last two points. And as for the first one, I also know some prophecy of Moynihan that was comically wrong, so I would't have made such a big deal.
In short, a book full of anecdotes, but without a clear message.
ESPAÑOL:
Se trata de una serie de cinco ensayos cortos sobre el nacionalismo, el tribalismo y el etnicismo en la política internacional.
El senador era muy erudito, pero el texto nunca tiene una dirección clara. Nunca sabes bien lo que el autor quiere decirte, más allá de:
1. Yo predije que la URSS no era tan potente como decían
2. La etnicidad es importante en política y no se la ha tenido suficientemente en cuenta.
3. La "autodeterminación de los pueblos" es un concepto problemático porque nadie sabe bien qué es un "pueblo". ("La frase está simplemente cargada de dinamita", en palabras de Robert Lansing)
Yo ya conocía los dos últimos puntos. Y en cuanto al primero, conozco también alguna profecía de Moynihan que resultó cómicamente equivocada, así que tampoco era para insistir tanto.
En resumen, un libro lleno de anécdotas, pero sin un mensaje demasiado claro.
February 27, 2012
'Pandaemonium' approaches a subject matter that is of keen interest to me: namely causes of international conflict. The problem is that Sen. Moynihan spends the majority of his time telling us how he predicted the fall of the Soviet Union (& him recounting this is quite interesting the first time) & the rest of the time jumping time periods & locations talking about ethnic strife. While a lot of the events are interesting, Sen. Moynihan has trouble continuing a strain of thought for an extended period of time. I will say that there is a lot of parts to this book that I like & appreciate. I also think, even post-Cold War, too many people put to much emphasis on realism, which tends to ignore ethnic questions, but the book doesn't do a very good job at scholarship in this area besides anecdotes all over the place. I would like to reemphasize that I did get something out of this book, & for that reason it was worth reading, but I didn't love it.
July 1, 2007
Arguing ethnicity as a force in international politics, before the actual demise of the Soviet Union Daniel Patrick Moynihan painted a world scene that has largely materialized today. A colorful character in Congress for a long time, I did not realize the extent of his intellect or foresightedness until I read this book. For those of you unfamiliar with Moynihan, I think this fairly brief book would offer an account of how present day ideologies on ethnicity were molded by past prejudices and politics.
January 18, 2010
Neither the liberal myth of the melting pot nor the Marxist fantasy of proletarian internationalism could account for ethnic conflict, and so the international system stumbled from one set of miscalculations to another. The 1991 Cyril Foster lecture at Oxford, OXUP, 1993.---Inside front DJ.
May 24, 2025
This was a "shopping by finding abandoned by a colleague" find. Writing in the early 1990s, Moynihan provides an excellent overview of hte problems of nationalism and ethnicity in international politics and ends with a prescient warning about the effect of such policies on US politics. The fruits of that have been blooming for the past decade and has made US politics so much uglier, unproductive, dysfuntional, and dangerous.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews