26 I CHRONICLESnThe War Against the WestnOPINIONSn”Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay. “n— TennysonnThe Expansion of InternationalnSociety, edited by Hedley Bull andnAdam Watson, Oxford: ClarendonnPress; $39.95.nThe Lawful Rights of Mankind: AnnIntroduction to the InternationalnLegal Code of Human Rights bynPaul Sieghart, Oxford: OxfordnUniversity Press; $15.95.nn our day the mere mention ofnI imperialism is enough to provokenparoxysms of moral outrage. Except innderision, no one any longer dares tonspeak of the white man’s burden, andnfew possess the courage to say that itnwas Europeans who created the greatestncivilization yet known to man. It is,ntherefore, to the credit of Hedley Bullnand Adam Watson that they acknowledgenthe fact that “the global internationalnsociety of today is in large partnthe consequence of Europe’s impactnon the rest of the world over the lastnfive centuries.” Nevertheless, theynleave no doubt that their own, highlynqualified approval of Western expansionnextends principally to the periodn1500 to 1800, centuries during whichnthe European powers made efforts tondeal with non-Western states on a basisnof “moral and legal equality.”nIn their judgment, the idea of Europeannsuperiority that began to takenfirm hold during the more rapid expansionnof the ensuing hundred yearsnis “unfounded.” They do not say whynit is unfounded, on the assumption, Insuppose, that only those who have notnyet outgrown ethnocentrism would advancensuch a claim. On their ownnLee Congdon is author of The YoungnLukacs (University of North CarolinanPress).nby Lee Congdonnshowing, however, it was the selfconfidentnconviction of cultural preeminencenthat made possible thentransformation of a loose internationalnsystem into what they hail as a morenintegral international society.nBut not all of the co-contributorsnshare Bull and Watson’s perspective.nThe specialists who have been givennthe task of describing the entry ofnnon-Western states into the Europeannworld system are far from being per­nnnsuaded that an international societynhas ever existed. Thomas Naff, forninstance, offers a lucid account of thenOttoman Empire’s step-by-step acceptancenof European diplomatic protocol,nbut emphasizes that Turkish values,noutiooks on life, and behavior patternsnremained largely what they had been.nMuch the same could be said withnrespect to Japan. After the Meiji Restorationnof 1868, the “secluded” Empirendid indeed signal its intention to act innaccord with European standards andnin that way achieve equality and GreatnPower status. Once having succeeded,nhowever, Japan turned on the Westnand launched a martial campaign tonwin “Asia for the Asians” that culmi-n