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Montesquieu's theory of 'doux commerce' has never ceased to be debated. Its most virulent critics have been Marxists for whom commercial exchange between capitalist economies is based on exploitation of the proletariat and leads to imperialism and conflict. The collapse of the communist bloc failed to bring an end to this controversy. Today, certain economists maintain that interdependence is a stabilizing factor whereas others claim that it increases tensions. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractThis article examines why states ask for forgiveness from other states or peoples that they have harmed. Asking for forgiveness has significant political, legal, and moral implications. But beyond these, the subject concerns how states confront their history and their collective responsibility for wrongdoing. My focus on the reasons states have for asking forgiveness could also improve our understanding of conflict resolution. The article introduces an innovative typology of requests for forgiveness by presenting important conceptual distinctions in the terminology currently employed in the field. Apologies, regrets, and expressions of sorrow are conceptualised as distinct avenues of asking forgiveness with varying degrees of significance and meaningfulness. I assert that the type of request for forgiveness is influenced by the degree of severity attributed to a wrongdoing and by the extent to which a state perceives its image as threatened by its wrongful act. The article analyses the important 1951 statement of West Germany's Chancellor Adenauer regarding the Jewish Holocaust as an example of a type of request for forgiveness.