AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF THE CURRENT TENDENCY OF FOREIGN POZICY ANALYSTS TO EMPHASIZE THE SO CALLED DOMESTIC SOURCES OF FOREIGN POLICY, THIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES THE ROLE PLAYED BY EXTERNAL FACTORS. THREE DIFFERENT WAYS IN WHICH THE STUDENT OF DOMESTIC SOURCES OF FOREIGN POLICY MAY CONCEIVE OF THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN FOREIGN FACTORS AND DOMESTIC FACTORS ARE SUGGESTED.
The significance of the nation-state in an era of globalisation and European integration remains the subject of competing conventional wisdoms: what some consider obvious is to others a myth. The issue is both explanatory and prescriptive: it is about the significance of state action for explaining outcomes as well as about the validity of arguments put forward in defence of the nation-state against the threat of internationalisation. From an explanatory point of view, attention needs to be devoted to the power of states relative to other actors, the autonomy of states in the sense of their possibilities for action, and the collective identity of states decisive for their viability. Since these are complex matters of degree, and since there is reason to expect variation between countries as well as policy areas, broad generalisation needs to be replaced with detailed empirical research. From a prescriptive point of view, there is a need for the detailed study of the relation between the nation-state, on the one hand, and psychological wellbeing, cultural pluralism, welfare policy, and democracy in various senses, on the other. (European Journal of Political Research / FUB)
Following the disclosure of archives in the former Soviet Union detailing art works taken from Germany at the end of World War II, it is now possible to reconstruct more accurately a history of those objects removed from Germany but never returned. Inconsistencies in the documentary evidence concerning both the location of objects sent West from Berlin and other repositories (particularly in the last few months of the war) and the number of objects returned to Germany indicate that the United States may have been involved in an unofficial policy of claiming as war booty art treasures form the conquered German nation. This article attempts to detail some of those inconsistencies by comparing what is known of the inventories of German museums before the war, the movements of art objects and repositories used during the war, and the inventories of the German museums today, in order to reconstruct some of this missing pact.
A deliberate objective of foreign policy was to present a blend of aloofness from the Cold War and active concern over peace and world affairs. Examines the relevance of such a policy today. (SJK)
