Offering a thought-provoking combination of analysis and chronological coverage, this book offers an up-to-date treatment of a crucial period in the development of European international relations. The determined engagement with events in Eastern Europe redresses the general tendency to focus on Western Europe. In theoretical terms, there is a criticism of determonistic, structural and systemic accounts, and an explicit attempt to discuss developments in terms of the contemporary political culture. There is also consideration of Europe's changing position in the world. Draws on wide-ranging archival research, but in an accessible fashion.