The Ec, Eastern Europe and European Unity: Discord, Collaboration and Integration Since 1947 - Hardcover

Van Ham, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1855671247 ISBN 13: 9781855671249

Publisher: Pinter Pub Ltd, 1993

Synopsis

This text argues that the process of West European integration has been encouraged and facilitated by the Cold War, in which the threat posed by the Soviet Union temporarily inhibited internal conflicts, and in which American hegemony provided the relatively stable and secure economic, political and military framework in which the major West European countries were able to co-operate and set major steps towards the ultimate ideal of a European Union.

About this title

Synopsis

The starting point of Peter van Ham's analysis is to counterpose the process of integration within the EC, the disintegration of the economic, political and military structures in Eastern Europe, and to provide an assessment of the relations between the two, within an historical, theoretical framework. The bi-polar structure of world politics prior to 1989 provided the EC with two major pressures to co-operate - the perceived threat from the Soviet Union, and the willingness of the US to shoulder much of the burden of military security. The development of the EC's relationship with Eastern Europe both before and since 1989 is therefore examined within this context. The paradox for EC-Central European relations since 1989 is that emergent multi-polar structures have exacerbated potential difficulties, most dramatically illustrated with the break-up of Yugoslavia. The EC's ability to coordinate policy on such issues will be a significant assessment of its unity at a time of serious internal dissent over fundamental issues of policy. In conclusion, the author attempts to assess the nature of EC-Central European co-operation in the 1990s.

About the Author

Peter van Ham is a Research Fellow at the Western European Union Institute for Security Studies, Paris.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pinter Pub Ltd
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1855671247
• ISBN 13: 9781855671249
• Binding: Hardcover