The Fascist Challenge and the Policy of Appeasement
About: This article is published in Foreign Affairs.The article was published on 1983-01-01. It has received 25 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Appeasement.
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16 Nov 2017TL;DR: Seidman as discussed by the authors provides a comprehensive study of antifascisms in Spain, France, the UK, and USA, with new interpretations of the Spanish Civil War, French Popular Front, and Second World War.
Abstract: Antifascism has received little attention compared to its enemy. No historian or social scientist has previously attempted to define its nature and history - yet antifascism became perhaps the most powerful ideology of the twentieth century. Michael Seidman fills this gap by providing the first comprehensive study of antifascisms in Spain, France, the UK, and USA, with new interpretations of the Spanish Civil War, French Popular Front, and Second World War. He shows how two types of antifascism - revolutionary and counterrevolutionary - developed from 1936 to 1945. Revolutionary antifascism dominated the Spanish Republic during its civil war and re-emerged in Eastern Europe at the end of World War II. By contrast, counterrevolutionary antifascists were hegemonic in France, Britain, and the USA. In Western Europe, they restored conservative republics or constitutional monarchies based on Enlightenment principles. This innovative examination of antifascism will interest a wide range of scholars and students of twentieth-century history.
33 citations
TL;DR: A number of scholars have explored second-order factors that affect great power alignments, including offensive-defense balance, revisionist motives, domestic regime characteristics, and intra-alliance bargaining dynamics as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: deeply to the core of international relations theory as the origins of diplomatic alignments. If only one of the great powers had chosen a different alliance strategy at any of several critical junctures over the past century, the course of world history might have been radically altered. Germany might have succeeded in the conquest of Europe, or it might have been deterred from hostilities altogether. Much depended on Great Britain, which avoided entangling itself in continental crises until each world war had already become inevitable. By making a stronger commitment to France in the early 1910s, or by forging a close partnership with the Soviet Union in the late 1930s, Britain might have been able to persuade German leaders that military conoict would not have been worth the risk. Given the enormous stakes of great power politics, it is of vital importance for the aeld of international relations to provide a compelling account of how states choose their allies and adversaries. The academic debate over alignment has centered on two schools of thought within the realist paradigm. One view posits that states tend to balance against the most powerful actor in the system; the other asserts that states concern themselves only with speciac threats to their national security. Using these theories as a point of departure, many scholars have also explored secondorder factors that affect great power alignments, including offense-defense balance, revisionist motives, domestic regime characteristics, and intra-alliance bargaining dynamics. Such works have not directly challenged the core asThe Political Economy of Alignment
32 citations
27 citations
01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyse the defense du paradis fiscal suisse dans les negociations internationales de l'entre-deux-guerres, and propose a strategy to defend the position helvetique.
Abstract: Cette these analyse la defense du paradis fiscal suisse dans les negociations internationales de l'entre-deux-guerres. Pour ce faire, elle s'appuie sur un tres large panel de sources inedites, tirees des archives publiques suisses, britanniques, francaises, allemandes et belges, ainsi que sur une serie d'archives du monde economique et d'organisations internationales. Ce travail tente, sur cette base, de retracer l'evolution des pourparlers fiscaux et d'identifier comment les dirigeants suisses sont parvenus a ecarter en leur sein les premieres pressions internationales qui surviennent apres la Grande Guerre a l'encontre des pratiques fiscales helvetiques. Sur fond de fuites massives d'avoirs europeens en direction du refuge suisse, ces demarches etrangeres a l'encontre du secret bancaire sont menees aussi bien au niveau multilateral, au sein des debats fiscaux de la Societe des Nations, que sur le plan bilateral, a l'interieur des negociations interetatiques pour la conclusion de conventions de double imposition et d'assistance fiscale. Pourtant, les tentatives de la part des gouvernements europeens d'amorcer une cooperation contre l'evasion fiscale avec leur homologue suisse echouent constamment durant l'entre-deux-guerres : non seulement aucune mesure de collaboration internationale n'est adoptee par la Confederation, mais les dirigeants helvetiques parviennent encore a obtenir dans les negociations des avantages fiscaux pour les capitaux qui sont exportes depuis la Suisse ou qui transitent par son entremise. En clair, bien loin d'etre amoindrie, la competitivite fiscale du centre economique suisse sort renforcee des discussions internationales de l'entre-deux-guerres.
La these avance a la fois des facteurs endogenes et exogenes a la politique suisse pour expliquer cette reussite a priori surprenante dans un contexte de crise financiere et monetaire aigue. A l'interieur de la Confederation, la grande cohesion des elites suisses facilite la defense exterieure de la competitivite fiscale. En raison de l'anemie de l'administration fiscale federale, du conservatisme du gouvernement ou encore de l'interpenetration du patronat industriel et bancaire helvetique, les decideurs s'accordent presque unanimement sur le primat a une protection rigoureuse du secret bancaire. En outre, corollaire de l'afflux de capitaux en Suisse, la place financiere helvetique dispose de differentes armes economiques qu'elle peut faire valoir pour defendre ses interets face aux gouvernements etrangers. Mais c'est surtout la conjonction de trois facteurs exogenes au contexte suisse qui a favorise la position helvetique au sein des negociations fiscales internationales. Premierement, apres la guerre, le climat anti-fiscal qui predomine au sein d'une large frange des elites occidentales incite les gouvernements etrangers a faire preuve d'une grande tolerance a l'egard du havre fiscal suisse. Deuxiemement, en raison de leur sous-developpement, les administrations fiscales europeennes n'ont pas un pouvoir suffisant pour contrecarrer la politique suisse. Troisiemement, les milieux industriels et financiers etrangers tendent a appuyer les strategies de defense du paradis fiscal suisse, soit parce qu'ils usent eux-memes de ses services, soit parce que, avec la pression a la baisse qu'il engendre sur les systemes fiscaux des autres pays, l'ilot liberal helvetique participe au demantelement de la fiscalite progressive que ces milieux appellent de leur voeu.
27 citations
TL;DR: The role of political ideology in the formation of alliances has been extensively examined in the literature as mentioned in this paper, with the most prominent studies focusing on either the effects of only one ideology (liberalism) on outcomes, or for those who go beyond this restriction, the interactions of autocratic regimes.
Abstract: WHAT ROLE do political ideologies play in the formation of alliances? Many of the most prominent examinations of this subject are clear in their answer: a relatively insignificant one. Although there are important differences among neorealist, balance-of-threat, and buck-passing arguments, proponents of each agree that “when great powers confront a serious threat . . . they pay little attention to ideology as they search for alliance partners.” The most prominent studies that challenge this consensus and attribute great powers’ alliance preferences to an important extent to ideological concerns tend to examine either the effects of only one ideology—liberalism—on outcomes, or for those who go beyond this restriction, the interactions of autocratic
26 citations