ABSTRACT
The Second Austrian Republic (1945/55 to present) has een a much more successful democratic regime than the first one (1918-1933/38). Sixty years is a long period in history, and it is time to take stock. In this introduction, we are suggesting a framework of periods for the entire postwar foreign policy era. Austrian foreign policy saw its ups and downs over the past sixty years, but experienced even more difficult choices between the two World Wars. The “primacy of foreign policy” 1 for the elites in the Austrian center of power on Vienna’s Ballhausplatz may be the defining subtext of these essays.
