Re: JWSR review of ReOrient

My editorial judgment has been impugned in Gunder Frank's comments about
Kees Terlouw's review of _ReOrient_.  I should state at the outset that
my own evaluation of Gunder's new book is much more positive than that
of many readers despite that we disagree on many points. I think the
explanation of Asian decline and European rise presented in Chapter 6 is
quite valuable.

Gunder has indicated to me that he is upset with Terlouw more because of
what happened in their confrontation at a session in Leiden than in what
Kees says in the review.  I quote; "i am sorry that we disagree. i could
go through the review, but as i
said its not worth it. My letter was less about the review than about
the revxiwer."

The only statement in Kees's review that I find unjust is his claim that
Gunder has not considered any of the contrary evidence.  This is
rhetorical overkill, but the population evidence that Kees provides is
indeed germane to Gunder's claims. See
http://csf.colorado.edu/wsystems/jwsr/vol4/v4n2r1.htm

I have told Gunder that  Dale Wimberley, the _JWSR_  Book Review editor,
is making an effort to find another objective review of _ReOrient_.

Chris Chase-Dunn
Editor, Journal of World-Systems Research