It was not a political act, Mr. Kremer says, but a response to cultural and historical imperatives.

He could not be expected to understand the historical imperative of gaining control of Manchuria.

Now, as the historical imperative of European unity recedes in their minds, petty squabbles and national differences loom larger.

Their counterparts in past centuries, we were reminded, had bowed to historical imperatives and disappeared or changed almost beyond recognition.

There, in his books, he found the historical and political imperatives that were his answers.

The historical imperative of the party for the last 15 years, 20 years, has been tax cuts, spending restraint and less government.

Bat cared nothing for nostalgia, philosophy, or historical imperatives.

Everyone, especially in Jerusalem, where religious, historical, cultural and social imperatives collide, has a gremlin inside whispering that it may not be safe.

Now that you have explained it, though, I see what you meant about historical imperatives.

It is also discourteous for writers not to acknowledge the historical imperative of the word "scholar," signifying school or intellectual community.