In the book Diplomacy: A Very Short Introduction by By Joseph M. Siracusa, we find the following passage:
Prior to World War II, then, diplomacy was essentially a government-to-government relationship, in the sense that Foreign Diplomatic Officers were discouraged from participating in the domestic or foreign policies of the state in which they exercised their function.
Does then in this context equal "after that time" or "before that time"?
As far as I have studied, then can mean:
- at that time; at the time in question. "I was living in Cairo then" at that time, in those days, at that point (in time), at that moment, on that occasion
- after that; next; afterward. "she won the first and then the second game" next, after that, afterward/afterwards, subsequently, later in that case;
- therefore. "if you do what I tell you, then there's nothing to worry about" in that case, that being so, it follows that