Search

The article focuses on international organizations that have arisen as a result of the Marshall Plan. It states that international co-operative organizations are used by the West to help win the Cold War and restrain the spread of Communism. It talks about the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), which administers to the Marshall Plan and reduced trade barriers between European countries and the U.S. It states that the method of work that the OEEC used most successfully was a continuous diplomatic negotiation, and mentions that members of the OEEC acted as representatives of their government, resulting in a constant flow of information and ideas between the representatives and their governments.

The experience of two world wars, the revolutions in Soviet Union and Germany thirty years ago, the Civil War in China, the expansion of the Soviet sphere of influence into the very heart of Europe and the ensuing tensions between the partisans of capitalism, socialism and communism have aroused an intensified interest in the study of those forces and factors which have contributed to the present crisis of Western society. Among these are, of foremost importance, those patterns of concerted social action and more or less organized groups which are commonly referred to as social and political "movements." The conventional approach to the study of these phenomena has been a historical and philosophical study of the ideas or "theories." These were interpreted and analyzed as if they were systems of philosophy. They were submitted to critical evaluation in terms of empirical truth, logical consistency, and ethical standards. Not much attention was paid to the meaning of these ideas to the masses of people who made up the movement or party, or to the social structure of these groups, or to related problems of sociological relevance.

The article informs that there is little doubt that Soviet Union aspires to dominate the continent of Europe. The United States appears to be determined not to allow that aspiration to succeed. This conflict between the two giants is also revealed in the internal politics of England, France and Italy, particularly in that of the Latin Sisters. Symbolic of the weakness of both in post-war world politics are similar passages in their new constitutions. So far, the current internal politics of the three countries has been set forth in terms of its relation to world politics. Only a rash foreigner would expect a high degree of success in attempting to appraise British French or Italian politics as it is viewed internally in each country. The trouble is that France cannot stabilize her currency. This is no new problem and de Gaulle himself tried his hand at it and failed before he retired in January 1946. All things are remembered in France. And in spite of de Gaulle's bitter present opposition to the Communists, they were in his own cabinets while he was in power. It was Ramadier, a Socialist, who threw the Communists out. For some months now there have been plans for balancing the budget and dealing with the franc. But all plans contain proposals that one or more political groups have been unable to accept. In spite of the split between the Socialists and Communists on the question of world politics, both parties represent the workers of France.