Reviews

DOCUMENTS AND SPEECHES ON COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS 1952–1962. Nicholas Mansergh (ed.). London, New York, Toronto, Oxford University Press, 1963 for the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Pp. xxi, 775. £stg. 6–0–0.

THE POST‐WAR TRANSFORMATION OF THE COMMONWEALTH: Reflections on the Asian‐African Contribution. M. S. Rajan. London, Asia Publishing House, 1963, for the Indian School of International Studies, Pp. 67. Stg. 18/‐.

COMMUNITY AND CONTENTION: BRITAIN AND AMERICA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. Bruce M. Russett. M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Mass. Pp. xii, 252, $7.00.

PEACE KEEPING BY UNITED NATIONS FORCES FROM SUEZ TO THE CONGO. A. L. Burns and Nina Heathcote. Princeton Studies in World Politics, Number 4, 1963, pp. 256.

NEUTRALISM. Peter Lyon. Leicester University Press, 1963. Pp. 216. U.K. price 25/‐.

THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE: A SHORT POLITICAL GUIDE. Alvin J. Cottrell and James E. Dougherty. London, Pall Mall Press, 1964. Pp. 262. U.K. price 30/‐.

THE ECONOMIC INTEGRATION OP HUNGARY INTO THE SOVIET BLOC. L. Zsoldos. Bureau of Business Research, Ohio State University, 1963. Pp. 149. Price $5.00.

VOSPOMINANIYA O FEVRALSKOY REVOLYUTSII. MEMOIRS OF THE FEBRUARY (MARCH RUSSIAN) REVOLUTION. I. G. Tsereteli. Mouton & Co., Paris. The Hague. 1963. Two volumes. I, xxx + 494; II, 429 & Index. Published with the cooperation of the Russian Institute of Columbia University and the Russian Research Centre of Harvard University.

ALBANIA AND THE SINO‐SOVIET RIFT. William E. Griffith. The M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1963. Pp. 423. Australian price £1/9/6.

MAO AGAINST KHRUSHCHEV. A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SINO‐SOVIET CONFLICT. David Floyd. London, Pall Mall Press, 1964. Pp. 456. Stg. 50/‐.

TIBET AND ITS HISTORY. H. E. Richardson. London, Oxford University Press, 1962. Pp. ix + 297, illustrated, maps. Australian price 65/‐.

THE TWO VIET‐NAMS. Bernard B. Fall. London, Pall Mall Press, 1963. Pp. viii + 493. Stg. 50/‐.

PROBLEMS OP FREEDOM: SOUTH VIETNAM SINCE INDEPENDENCE. Wesley R. Fishel (ed.). New York, The Free Press, 1961. Pp. xiv + 233. $6.95.

FROM COLONIALISM TO COMMUNISM: A CASE HISTORY OF NORTH VIETNAM. Hoang Van Chi. London, Pall Mall Press, 1964. Pp. xv + 252. Stg. 40/‐.

INDONESIA. Ruth T. McVey (ed.). New Haven, HRAF Press, 1963. Pp. xviii + 600. $12.00.

THE DECLINE OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA. Herbert Feitk. Cornell University Press, 1962. ‘Pp. xx + 618. $8.75.

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF INDEPENDENT MALAYA: A CASE STUDY IN DEVELOPMENT. T. H. Silcock and E. K. Fisk (eds.). Australian National University, 1963. Pp. 306 + xi. 42/‐.     

The impact of Russian food security policy on the performance of the food system

Abstract

Food security has guided Russia’s food policy since 2010. The article examines the impact of food security policy on the food system. The Russian model of food security combines government intervention in the form of assistance for domestic production while simultaneously restricting market access. Food security does not appear to have a deleterious impact on the food system. We measure impact on four dimensions. Financial support for agriculture continues to increase in nominal rubles. In food production, the beef and dairy branches continue to lag, but increased grain production has made Russia a global leader in grain exports. Average per capita food consumption improved, although the poor consume much less, and the decline of the ruble affects the way Russians shop. The largest impact of food security has been on food trade. Food security policy has brought food to the forefront as an instrument of foreign policy. Food trade is politicized, witnessed by the food embargo against the West and food import bans against Turkey and Ukraine.     

Korean unification: a solution to the challenges of an increasingly elderly population?

South Korea experienced below replacement fertility for the first time in 1983, which also marked the point from which fertility rates continued to decline over the next 20 years to reach a low of 1.2 in 2003. In spite of recent pronatalist policies, the fertility rate has remained near this level and has not increased appreciably. The reasons for sustained low fertility in South Korea are complex and solutions remain elusive. One option that has been suggested is reunification with North Korea, which could address the eventual decline in the population and mitigate the increasing proportion of the elderly. Although the conditions surrounding the German reunification experience were vastly different than what Korea will likely undergo, it is informative to look at Germany as a guide to the demographic parameters of reunification. Three projection models for 2015–2050 are presented; even the highest fertility models show that reunification will not be the answer to population restructuring already underway in South Korea as a result of sustained low fertility.     

Medieval Shipwrecks from North Norway and their Contribution to Understanding Maritime Interaction and Trade

This article presents the remains of three medieval ships from North Norway. The sites are clustered near the Arctic Circle, two from the islands of Husøy (Træna) and Lovund in the Helgeland region, and a potential third wreck from the small lake Fiskvågvatn in Saltdal. Available information from the wrecks is presented to provide a basis for assessing their cultural contexts and relevance to medieval maritime activities, the dried‐cod (stockfish) trade in particular. The circumstances surrounding their discovery and documentation also offer insights into the history of cultural heritage management and role of community engagement in northern Norwegian shipwreck archaeology.