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After a short introduction, this article contains the text of a previously unpublished interview with Raymond Aron in which he discusses what he takes to be the significance & continuing importance, if any, of the French Revolution. In the course of the interview Aron discusses different interpretations of the Revolution. The interview took place in February 1983. [Copyright 2003 Sage Publications Ltd.]

This article reviews the influence of Edmund Husserl's phenomenology on Raymond Aron's philosophy of history. In trying to create an original synthesis of Husserl's phenomenology & Max Weber's neo-Kantianism, Aron fashioned a dialectical logic that ultimately proved to be unstable. This tension accounts for the ambiguity & inconsistencies in some areas of Aron's thinking. [Copyright 2003 Sage Publications Ltd.]

Most of the political books of Raymond Aron on the eve of the Cold War hesitate, as the work of Thucydides, between meditation of the past and prospective. However, if there is no doubt that the Greek model inspired him, Aron did not fail to formulate the theoretical issues underlying this meditation in a large systematic work: Paix et guerre entre les nations. This paper aims to follow the genesis of the analysis model, underlying the work, and then make a brief description of its structure, at different levels. If we interpreted him correctly, Aron wanted to build a "praxeology", a combinational logic that does not necessarily involve quantitative models and that could serve as a guide for the statesman or politician. Adapted from the source document.

Raymond Aron is often considered one of the greatest modern theorists of realism. However, one may question this way of classifying Aron. Indeed an attentive reading of his work reveals a singular approach that is based on two criticisms. The first one reproaches the classical liberal tradition for having engendered illusory projects. The second one is directed to a cold war realism that is accused of transforming itself into a simplistic ideology. Thus the originality of Aron's approach resides in its attempt to overcome the classical opposition between the two schools, while preserving what is most valuable in them. That's why one proposed to consider Aron as a heterodox realist, namely as an advocate of a "post-Kantian machiavellianism". Adapted from the source document.

Throughout his work, Raymond Aron denounces a European identity torn between a construction based on economy & a Europe based on myths. He is not convinced by the functionalist method, & he appeals for the constitution of a political Europe, the only one capable of developing a European sentiment. On the other hand, Aron rejects back to back the project of a federal Europe & the Europe imagined by De Gaulle as two Utopian myths where identity cannot be revealed. Europe needs to again become the subject of its own history. Building the Europe of defense, promoting its own identity, & not one which is systematically against the two superpowers, & defending the Europe of freedom: it is about nourishing a community of destinies. Only in this way can European identity transform itself from potential to reality. Adapted from the source document.

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Raymond Aron is one of the greatest innovators of postwar liberalism, by the assimilation to his speech the sociological thought, the Keynesian economics and the political realism. In that sense, their highest contribution were the concept of industrial society, a realistic view of representative democracy, an historical sociology applied to international relations, a critic of the political and economic Hayek's neoliberalism and his view of Marxism-Leninism as a secular religion. The reception of his work in Spain had some difficulties, first by the existence of an authoritarian political regime and then by emergence of a new left heavily influenced by Marxism. However, at present, Aron is a highly respected intellectual in political and intellectual. Adapted from the source document.

French sociologist Raymond Aron was among the first scholars to establish the concept of totalitarianism. He described, explained, & discussed how & why fascist & communist ideologies took the form of antihuman regimes. This article recommends Aron's critical use of the concept for future studies of authoritarian government. Aron did not aim to establish either a systematic or a general descriptive theory, but suggested a dynamic use of the concept on the basis of Max Weber's historical sociology. Aron's originality lay in the way he combined political theory, a study of international relations, & history writing. Totalitarianism was a guiding concept in Aron's liberal interpretation of history & in his pragmatic policy recommendations to French governments from the 1930s to his death in 1983. Adapted from the source document.

This short article is an introduction to a collection of essays written to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Raymond Aron in 1983. Having briefly examined the recent controversy associated with the publication of Daniel Lindenberg's Le Rappel a l'ordre, it discusses the development of political thinking in France over the last 20 years & the place occupied by the revival of interest in liberalism. It concludes by suggesting that the dominance sometimes attributed to liberalism in contemporary France might be misplaced, citing in particular the manner in which the radical left has been able to transform itself & maintain the rhetoric of anti-capitalism. It cites recent opposition to the war in Iraq as an example of patterns of ideological continuity. To that extent, Aron might well have again found himself in the minority. [Copyright 2003 Sage Publications Ltd.]

Christian Malis's book: Raymond Aron et le debat strategique francais: 1930-1966 ([Aron and the French Strategic Debate: 1930-1966]) published by the editions Economica in 2005, presents a clear & didactic lecture of the works by Raymond Aron within the domain of military & strategic affairs. Adapted from the source document.