Los estudios internacionales en América Latina: realizaciones y desafíos

Arnll/d Tllynhee I Tl-lE ,'-TI1l>Y OF CONTEMPORARY H'STORY, l'OIlNIlJN<; Ol' nI!' I'IRST... am not a physical scientist but 1 suppose that when a scientist studies an atom or an electron or a proton, he does not feel any partiality for this particular proton against that particular proton, or he doesn't approve the conduct of this atom as opposed to the conduct of that atom. It would be rather diffieult to take a personal line about atoms or protons or even molecules. But it is very difficult not to have personal feelings, moral judgements, about human affairs. And therefore it is very important in writing a record of sueh controversial human affair8 as international relations are, that the institute whieh promotes 8ueh publications should disengage itself from responsibility and should leave the responsibility on the shoulders of the writers. . In trying to write acurrent history of international affairs 1 myself have tried to stand apart from the subject as far as possible and to look at eurrent events as if I was looking at them from a long way off in time as though I was sorne andent Greek historian say, come baek to life after five hundred years to look at these strange later people and their doings, or if my own eountry Britain happened to be involved in sorne controversial affair, 1 tried to teH myself how this would look to me if, instead of being British, I happened to be a Swiss or a Swede -a member of a neutral nation- which wasn't itself ingaged in this particular eontroversy or this particular eonflieL These are useful exercises for trying to keep ones objeetivity and impartiality but they have on1y a limited effeet and in sorne affairs such for instanee as the rise of Hitler, or the ltalian agression against Ethiopia in 1935. Of course 1 found it impossible not to have strong moral feelings of eondemnatíon of one of the parties in the affair, and 1 am sure this carne out in my work. Just as we are a11 of human, perhaps it would be inhuman to be impartíal about such things as the crimes eommitted by German Nazis or the ltalian attaek on Ethiopia. There are limits to the possibility of objectivity and impartialíty. AH the more important therefore is it that in publications as well as in meetings, the institute itself should keep neutral even in such things as its attitude towards Nazism, whieh it is difficult for anyone to be neutral-about, and it should put the responsibility on the shoulders of the indíviduals who are doing the work. WeH now, 1 have taIked about this very concrete approach to the early history of the first two institutes of the kind that you are now founding in Chile. And 1 have talked about my personal experienees because my wife and 1 were personally engaged from an early date over a long period in the work of our institute in London. But next Monday when 1 hope to eontinue and finish this talk 1 am going to get away from the history of the American and British institutes and other institutes of this kind, and get away from my personal experiencies and diseuss the more abstraet and if you like academie question: Is the objective study of intemational history and of eontemporary history in general really possible, is it only possible to deal with contempora– ry affairs either from the point ofview of action as governments do, or in the 29