Economic relatives and a University in Malta

Abstract

The rise of a new ethos of political self-reliance and the continuing quest among Maltese leaders and nationals to bring about a full measure of independence within the shortest period of time, has made it mandatory that the Maltese, despite the smallness of their size and the meagre resources available on the island, should establish institutions that could carry this national ethos through the wake of international bureaucracy and structures. Although Maltese culture is in many ways not a-typical of its Mediterranean counterparts, Maltese life in general is significantly different from that of other, even larger, islands in the Mediterranean such as Cyprus, Crete or nearby Sicily. Malta is not only an island; it is a nation, and, despite its smallness and a long history of colonization, it has finally come to be accepted as such. As a result, some structural features of the Maltese community, though they could easily be considered a luxury by superficial observers of the local scene, play an essential role in Malta's existence. As such, Malta has to be served by a national airline, it sustains fully fletched banking and financial institutions, it maintains a quite intricate network of foreign representations and diplomatic corps, it issues its own currency, and, not least from the cultural point of view, it nurtures an indigenous language.