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The thesis of this paper is that governments of some otherwise enlightened states are increasingly fearful of acknowledging the restraints imposed on them by existing international law. They are also reluctant to enter into new commitments by way of international conventions that would expand the reach of international law. The paper asks whether these fears are based on a true understanding of international law or on some distorted view of it. It will draw comparisons and some contrasts between Australia and the United States in their reactions to a number of recent events as well as to some enduring situations of contemporary relevance. Had time (and the limits of my research) permitted, one might also have examined public attitudes toward international law in China, Japan, and Russia in this context, where similar fears appear to be entertained. France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, also enlightened states, appear by contrast to belong to a group more dedicated to international law. As Robert Kagan has recently remarked, the experience of two world wars at close quarters, and the formation of the European Union, have made the European countries more dedicated to process, where the United States is more interested in results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the attitude of Jews in Great Britain toward political and social change in Russia from the February Revolution of 1848 through the Bolshevik control of power to the end of the Civil War in March 1921. It also relates the waves of Jewish immigration to Great Britain from the Russian Empire and the special relationship of Jews in Great Britain with Russia, which is traced back to their close family ties. It also highlights the Jewish political community from 1917 to 1921 and their responses to the revolution.

The article deals with the Balfour Declaration of the British government in 1917, which supported the Zionist plan to create a national home for the Jews in Palestine. Zionists living in England supported the declaration and they embarked on massive campaign to popularize the idea of a British Palestine. But the declaration has coincided with the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in Russia which raised the concern of the British government that they might conclude a separate peace. The British government was worried that it would nullify the economic blockade of Germany.