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An article on how the Flemish government has used the new legislation to found its own international cultural policy and if its aims were solely cultural, or mixed with political and/or economic gains. Up till now cultural policies have been mainly policies of subvention and not enough autonomous, since political and economical aims were found too important. Regarding autonomy, the results have not been brilliant; international subventions, regulated by external factors, have been mainly of a political and economical nature, which diminishes the structural practices, leaving a tight budget for an autonomous, authentic policy. However, compared with Holland and the Walloon provinces, the results seem better. The functionality in Walloon remains highly influenced by international merchandising goals, and Holland has accepted the existing and hard to avoid co-relation with other domains, but their idea of an autonomous policy seems rather individualistic. As regards the EU: its nature is too economical to make for a successful autonomy. Future aims seem worthwhile however in a cooperation of a Dutch language union, an international cooperation thus, between the Netherlands and Flemish cultural strategies. It is a costly business, but promoting Dutch language contributions to the international scene provide some good basics for an internationalized policy, to which the Flemish-Dutch Cultural Policy Committee (Commissie Cultureel Verdrag Vlaanderen-Nederland) has given its approval. References. O. van Zijl

One of the achievements of the reflectivist turn in international relations theory in the late 20th century was the attention given to the role of discourse and other ideational factors in international politics. In recent years, however, approaches critical of the discursive emphasis in international studies have emerged, seeking to restore the significance of non-discursive aspects of international relations such as geography, technology, and the non-human. This article offers a perspective on the development of international relations theory from the standpoint of the debate between materialism and idealism. Within this framework, it provides a brief overview of the historical evolution of international relations theory and subsequently delves into a detailed analysis of three strands of the new wave of materialist theorizing in the field - critical realism, new materialism, and neoclassical geopolitics. The article suggests considering the new materialist wave as, on the whole, a positive development, but also points out the necessity of taking into account the risk of "exiling" the human element from international relations research as such concepts proliferate. The possibility of collaboration between reflecivists and post-reflecivists, as well as between idealists and materialists in general, is underlined for the comprehensive study of contemporary international realities.

Aus sowjetischer Sicht

The article proposes a rationale to expand the concept of humanitarian diplomacy. Based on scientific research, the author proposes to escape from a narrow understanding of humanitarian diplomacy as providing humanitarian assistance and assistance to vulnerable groups of the population. An attempt is made to form a single umbrella concept of diplomacy, which would include all types of modern diplomacy that are aimed at protecting a person, his values of ideals.