This is the first in a new series of annual omnibus editions which are intended to be of interest to both the specialist and general reader concerned with international relations and security issues. The period in which the essays included in this volume appeared coincided with two of the most remarkable developments of the twentieth century: the collapse of communism as part of the wider intellectual retreat of collectivist ideas and the related and parallel disintegration of the Soviet empire. The results of these vast changes have created a tumultuous atmosphere in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union—and exacerbated economic and ethnic conflicts. These essays provide a unique commentary on the developments and factors which have led to this amazing process of political change and a genuine struggle for pluralism in formerly communist nations.
Among the subjects covered in this edition are Gorbachev and perestroika, Soviet foreign policy, openness and freedom of movement, the secret services of Eastern Europe and the USSR, the security implications of the 1992 European Community coalition, French defense policy, British Conservatives and defense, Romania under Ceausescu, and Yugoslavia's worsening internal crisis. This important contribution to the study of the present situation will be valuable to political scientists, those studying international relations and current affairs, and others who want to understand what is happening in Europe.