Foreign Policy Thinking in the Elite and the General Population

Abstract

This article presents a profile of the peace thinking of a Norwegian elite sample, and tests some hypotheses derived from Galtung's center-periphery theory. Data were collected in 1967 by interviews and questionnaires, mostly structured, among a foreign policy elite sample and — for comparative purposes — among a so-called opinion- maker sample. These data are to some degree compared with Norwegian opinion survey data.

The main findings are that the elite's peace thinking, as shown by its operational peace profile, is centered around stability, evolutionary change, and gradualistic peace policies. Middle-range or regionalistic policies are preferred to long-range (globalistic) and short-range (intra-national or individual); tough policies to soft (or 'idealistic')- ones. The so-called projection hypothesis derived from the center-periphery theory is given substantial backing, and it is established — although with some important modifications — that the elite may be seen as an ultra-center of society.