Külpolitika - A Magyar Külügyi Intézet folyóirata - 1998 (4. évfolyam)
1998 / 1. szám - ESEMÉNYNAPTÁR - Resumé
Resumé The growing number of the national states also makes the geopolitical analysis much more difficult because for analyzing the process of the international relations many local and regional microparadigms of geopolitics should be taken notice of. Nowadays, the European Union became a supranational organization and has its own geopolitics. This is however not general characteristic of all regional organizations (for instance, ASEAN, MERCOSUR). It is not clear yet whether the FIS is the real integrative political structure or the simple political tool of Russia in order to control her proximity. The European Union is the only regional organization, which managed to solve, for example, the secular political and military hostility between France and Germany. It must be also emphasized that in the years of the Yugoslavian crisis the European Union was paralyzed caused by the conflicting interests of France and Germany. István Szőnyi Democratic Peace The theory of democratic peace has become a very prominent theory recently. It has been on the agenda for some time, and its origines date back as far as the Kantian concept of the perpetual peace. However, it has obtained its prominence in the post Cold War years. This paper examines the importance of the theory from two aspects - from the aspect of politics and the issue of democratization on the international political agenda and from a theoretical aspect, i.e. in the context of the realist-idealist/liberal debate. The heatedness of the debate between the proponents and opponents of the theory guarantees high intellectual suspense on the one hand but it also carries the danger of misguiding the debate. Accordingly, the point of the paper is to demonstrate that democratic peace can take hold in certain circumstances in international politics but it cannot be taken for granted and its operation is much more problematic than its proponents assert. Tibor Frank Friend or Foe? The Changing Image of Hungary in the United States Though at first sight the very possibility of an integrated image of Hungary seems doubtful, yet the American political elite, and even American public opinion as such, have registered the dramatic turning points of recent Hungarian history with surprising 148 Külpolitika
