IDEOLOGY AND IDENTITY - A NATIONAL OUTLOOK

Hopes for an international order and global peace seem shattered as we face the 21st century. The nation-state supported by the national out look is not withering away. On the contrary, in the identity vacuum wh ich followed the system collapse of Stalinism, new virulent forms of m ini nationalisms and ethnic chauvinisms are observed. Clearly, peace r esearch must devote more attention to the understanding of the ideolog ical and identity components of the national outlook. The current stud ies contribute a step toward outlining the components of the national outlook. Phase 1 focused on components and structure of the US nationa l outlook. 1867 US, international students, and domestic group respond ents participated in the 60-item check-off survey. Few differences wer e found between groups, supporting the presence of a common national o utlook with shared content and structure. In phase 2, 755 social scien ce students from the USA, Bulgaria, Hungary and Norway responded to ea ch of the 60 items on a five-point response category varying from comp letely meaningful (5) to completely meaningless (1). Differences in ra tings by the samples were determined, and varimax rotated factor analy ses were completed. The greatest overall differences were found, as pr edicted, between US and Bulgarian respondents, and the greatest simila rities between US and Norwegian participants. Finally, the relationshi p of the national outlook to peace is discussed.