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As you can see here, I sometimes look outward as well. Whether this has anything to do with Titian's famous Allegory of Prudence, I'm not so sure, except that Titian added the words "From the past the man of the present acts prudently so as not to imperil the future", which ought to be a good motto for something.
A Study Of The Official Response Of The UK To European Integration Initiatives 1945-51 - A Pursuit Of The National Interest?
"There was the Marshall Plan and the Schuman Plan;
Was there ever a UK plan for Europe?"
The focal point of this research proposal is the role, definition and nature of "national interest" as contained in the advice given to UK government ministers in response to initiatives from other European states - initiatives which concern 'constitution making' in the period from circa 1947-1955.
In particular, the research aims to explore the extent to which the nature of the advice was derived from different institutional processes: These include competing conceptions of national interest, a "working" perception of public opinion and the influence of ministerial policy. These would be evident from the official advice behind the responses of the government of the United Kingdom to European constitutional initiatives towards integration - perhaps as triggered by the requirements of the ERP/Marshall Plan of 1947.
The secondary question is the contrast of the relatively favourable position of the UK in post-war Europe and her seeming unwillingness to be the initiative taker.
- A victorious nation after the war and not occupied
- Close ally of the USA in military and economic matters
- War stimulated the economy with, again, comparatively less damage
- The support of a world empire: its people and resources
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