This article discusses the validity for historians of the concept of a pax britannica (a reminiscence, of course, of the pax romana), which Britain would have imposed during the 19th century, when she was the only superpower. Admittedly, from 1815 to 1914, there was no general war, even though ‘small’ wars broke out in Europe and overseas. The superior economic and naval power of Britain obliged France to avoid open conflict; Russia was also constrained, but not without the Crimean war. On the other hand, the influence of Britain in Europe had its limits, and eventually the British panicked before the rise of a strong German navy and this was a significant factor in the origins of World War I. Thanks to peace in Europe, Britain could devote her energies to overseas expansion. Besides her Empire stricto sensu, which grew relentlessly, she had a vast ‘informal Empire’ where the ‘imperialism of free trade’ prevailed. Altogether, the notion of pax britannica is most legitimate within the ‘formal’ empire. To her subject peoples Britain brought law and order, honest and efficient government, some economic development and a fast demographic growth. Pax britannica was both myth and reality, but it evaporated as Britain lost her economic and naval ascendancy.

As the year 2000 approaches there is a seemingly irresistible tendency to attach a label to the century that is ending. We here everywhere of “The American Century”, as if a stretch of time could belong to a country. Behind that expression, one can detect a set of attitudes, some of them holdovers from the nationalist sentiments that first surfaced in the nineteenth century, others expressions of anti-Americanism: if you don't like something about contemporary culture, blame it on the Yanks. In fact, most of the phenomena currently associated with America are global in nature, and the notion of an American Century makes little sense, except at the level of collective mentalities. Still, if one must associate a century with America, the best candidate would be the eighteenth. During the age of Enlightenment and Revolution, America epitomized everything enlightened and revolutionary. And Americans in Paris could bask in the glory of being identified not with McDonald's nor with Hollywood but rather with republican virtue and the rights of man. The real American century came to an end two hundred years ago.

Whether history as a discipline is of any practical use, is a question that is open to debate. That many people find pleasure in ‘doing’ history however, is an undeniable fact. Professional historians find pleasure in writing history and even more so in working in archives and thus getting immediately in touch with the past. Many others find pleasure in reading history. Increasingly, professional historians also succeed in reaching a wide readership.

The tenets of medical ethics laid down in the Hippocratic Collection are discussed together with their practical limits. The essential dilemmas considered have not changed fundamentally.

The economic crisis in Southeast Asia has provoked a debate on the economic and political culture of the region. Is Asian capitalism really suffering from structural deficiencies or does it only signify the imposition of western ethnocentric values? Inside Southeast Asia, public discussion on the issue of corruption has erupted, involving culturally specific notions of what is acceptable or not. Likewise, unbridled exercise of power increasingly faces an indigenous demand for more accountability of the powerholders. The reform debate that is conducted between Southeast Asians themselves seems to be more promising than western calls for democracy and economic transparency.

The post-war European credo – never again a Europe given over to totalitarian terror and war, but a Europe of peace and freedom – led to the creation in May 1949 of the Council of Europe with the clear political and ideological alignment to build a Europe of common values (democracy, human rights and the Rule of Law), to which the practice of market economy was added. The promotion of those fundamental values constituted the Council's specific mandate and raison d'être together with ever-increasing cooperation patterns. After the end of the Cold War, the organization became the pre-eminent European political institution welcoming, on an equal footing and in permanent structures, the democracies of Europe freed from communist oppression. The Kosovo conflict calls for a hardening of the European resolve to base its future on the defence of human dignity, respect for the individual, the Rule of Law and pluralist democracy, indispensable in fostering a common European identity. Setting-up of regional and European cooperation and integration structures has been an important step forward, but must be complemented by the conviction and determination to forge a common European destiny.

The modern world system also comprises a global constellation of languages, arranged in hierarchies and linked by multilingual individuals. The communication value of a language depends on the proportion of the people who speak it, multiplied by the proportion of multilingual speakers. The special characteristics of languages make them into hypercollective goods. In the West language is identified with state. A language of supercentral communication will permit the nations of the European Union to communicate and will exist in a dynamic, precarious balance with the indigenous languages.

Traditional humanism emphasized equal rights for all human beings, and consequently the similarity of human beings. Recently it has been pointed out that postmodernism, which can be considered as a modern humanism, focuses on the diversity of mankind. In this paper it is claimed that these two aspects – sameness and diversity of human beings – are both essential to humanism. The history of linguistics, which is closely correlated with the history of humanism, demonstrates that the focus has constantly shifted between uniformity (universality) and diversity.

The reproductive capacity of our species is far in excess of its needs. If all women used their reproductive potential to the full they would give birth to about 15 children on average. As averages of 6 or 7 were once sufficient to compensate for the high level of mortality, and higher numbers would have led to unacceptably high levels of population growth, that, presumably, is the level of fertility found in traditional European societies and in developing countries before the onset of fertility decline. In European societies, fertility decline began in the 19th century. It was a reaction to the disequilibrium that resulted from the long-term decline in mortality. However, a clear sequence cannot always be established. The assumption that prevailed in the 1950s and 1960s that this demographic transition, as it is customarily called, would lead to a new equilibrium appears not to have been well founded. Average family size has declined to such low levels that the age structure is seriously affected and the replacement of generations is no longer assured. A new disequilibrium has resulted. If this is a temporary phenomenon it is not an important issue. However, if it has to be assumed that future generations will also limit their reproduction to not more than 10% of their potential, the perspective is different. Even with continued high levels of immigration, population decline will then become inevitable. While some argue this will turn out to be beneficial, it is not without disadvantages.

This exploratory paper aims to map out new research challenges centring around the theme of sustainable transport. The research needs on mobility behaviour and policy measures are also described. The paper concludes with an outline of new thinking in a largely unexplored research area.