The John Preston Web Site
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That's me, looking inward. I chose this three headed portrait because it reminded me of the famous triple portrait of Charles I by van Dyck (click the image to see one zany version of this picture).
What's this site for? I'm studying and researching for a PhD, and want to use this site to publish some of my mullings and early thoughts, in the hope that this will catch some like-minded individuals. If anything here strikes a chord or a discord, please get in touch with me via the Contact Me page.
Here's a thought for starters:
"There was the Marshall Plan and the Schuman Plan;
Was there ever a UK plan for Europe?"
The aim of my research is to analyse the nature of UK official advice to ministers in response to initiatives towards European Integration from circa 1947 - 1955. The record shows there to be very little actual advice to ministers during the 1940s. Much of it is in factual descriptions of the main concerns.
What I want to know is: if advice was proffered to ministers, what form did it take, at what sort of meeting and how far reaching - and with what consequence? At present my thinking is following these lines:
- What was the official UK perception of Integration in Europe?
- To what extent did officials understand the underlying purpose of the process?
- What were the main concerns of the UK at that time?
- Why did the UK afford EI a comparatively low priority among these concerns?
- To what extent did the UK identify its own national interests?
- How did officials see 'EI' as being a major element in the pursuit of such interests?
See the Research Questions page for more mullings, and the Abstract page for the firmer details.
I would be very interested in making contact with anyone else interested in this area of research.
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