ABSTRACT
Supranationalism has tended to remain stubbornly within the realm of ideas and ideals. Nationalism, intense and persistent, remains the reality. The effort of aggressive nationalism to expand into supranational form may be seen in the formation of the "pan" movements. The sovereign nation-state remains the basic politico-economic and military unit of world society. Regionalism refers to a supranational bloc characterized by uneven internal structures based on geography and on common cluster patterns of language and culture. The Soviet threat to Berlin in 1948 and the conquest of Czechoslovakia made it clear to western Europeans that they needed military as well as economic support. The military army of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) moved to a village in southern Belgium, and the civil arm was transferred to new headquarters near Brussels. NATO had owed its origin to the threat of Communist aggression.
