ABSTRACT
The external relations of a contemporary society such as France are greater in scale and complexity than at any time in history. Their importance for individuals varies according to class, occupation or sub-cultural grouping, but no one can be immune from their impact in an age when energy resources, food, clothing, equipment at work and in the home, cultural and recreational activities, are all more or less dependent on foreign imports and influences. The increase in scale of external relations can be analysed quantitatively by using statistics on, for example, mail and telecommunications, foreign travel or intermarriage; qualitative change is harder to analyse but undoubtedly it has made life both more vulnerable and more fascinating.
