Internal Political Factors Research Articles

The Race Factor in International Politics

The Race Factor in International Politics

The Analysis of Regional International Politics: The Integration Versus the Empirical Systems Approach

It is argued that the study of regional international politics is important (1) for empirical reasons having to do with the real world saliency of the region as a factor in international politics; (2) for theoretical reasons having to do with the subordinate system as being relatively neglected in scholarship with the exception of the integrationist approach; and (3) for policy reasons having to do with the importance of accurately understanding the dynamics of the region as part of the objective of stabilizing the international system. The dominant approach to regional international politics of the integrationists (neo–functionalists and transactionalists) is then discussed and criticized in terms of the two approaches' normative concerns, the nature of the model utilized, and the theoretical issues that are raised. A major conclusion is that the integrative model used is inappropriate as a vestige of the level of analysis problem, and such theoretical issues as the nature of the dependent variable remain unspecified. It is then argued that the authors' formulation of an empirical systems approach begins to meet these criticisms.

THE POLITICAL ROLE OF REGIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS IN LATIN AMERICA

In a recent study2 we stated that the national political systems of Latin America constitute ‘open systems’ which operate under the ever-growing influence of external elements that are sometimes beyond their control. After the great changes which took place in the international context since the last world war, Latin American political systems could not be studied as if they were closed systems operating independently from the events that take place beyond their national frontiers. The traditional distinction between the study of national politics and international relations does not match reality any more, and it would be more sensible to study national political systems by trying to identify the relative influence of internal factors arising within the political system itself — and that of external factors arising totally or partially outside the system which often act with the same or even greater strength than the former in determining the state and process of the system. National and international politics form a continuum and should be considered separately only for analytical purposes, to find out how the interactions between internal and external political factors may occur in a particular situation or period.

Papal Finance and the Temporal Power, 1815–1871

The Popes of Rome ruled as both temporal and spiritual sovereigns for more than one thousand years, but historians have been little concerned with the former aspect of their sovereignty except as a factor in international politics and diplomacy and for its effect upon their status as heads of Catholic Christendom. Details of the internal administration of the States of the Church have been largely neglected. This state of affairs is particularly true with respect to the modern and recent periods of European history, during which the rise of great national states eclipsed the tiny temporal domain of the Pope. There is a substantial literature on the finances of the Papacy in the later Middle Ages, when finance is recognized as having played an important part in political affairs, but a survey of the literature for the modern period fails to reveal any systematic treatment of the subject. There is reason to believe, however, as this brief note indicates, that there is a significant connection between the financial situation of the States of the Church and the loss of the temporal power. It is even possible that this connection extends to matters of Church doctrine.

Suez Canal Problems

F EW material works of man have exerted as much influence on contemporary and later times as the cutting of the Suez ship canal. Coinciding with the advent of the age of steam, it revolutionized many types of human activity. It wrought a fundamental change in geographical relationships by providing a useful short cut between the two most densely populated areas in the worldwestern Europe and eastern Asia. The very potentialities of the canal were such that, for at least half a century before it had emerged from the realm of ideas, it was an important factor in international politics. It was a principal bone of international contention during the several years required for its construction. Since its opening in I869 it has been the subject of endless controversies, negotiations, diplomatic incidents, and unsolved problems. In the current struggle for world domination nothing is more certain than that Suez is one of the most coveted prizes. During periods of international tension the flow of writings relating to the Canal has always increased markedly. Recent crises display such a trend. The success of the Italian attack on Ethiopia in I935 required the constant and unobstructed use of the Canal. Because it constituted a serious threat to British hegemony in the East, if not indeed to British control of the Canal and the Red Sea, it introduced a changed era in the history of the Canal. The culmination of antagonisms in a second World War naturally has drawn the Canal still more prominently into the limelight; and undoubtedly these events are in part the cause of the appearance in print of several new works relating to that waterway. Only a few of these can be noticed in the course of this article, and only briefly; but perhaps such references will be illustrative of current interest in the geographical bearings of the Canal and resultant problems.

Poland as a Concrete Factor in International Politics

Poland as a Concrete Factor in International Politics