Description

The fall of the Berlin Wall symbolized a dramatic turning-point in the history of European politics and security. Geopolitics in Post-Wall Europe highlights the new relations between politics, culture, and territory. It analyzes the major geopolitical shifts in the connection between security and identity. Part I covers the general geopolitical tendencies in Europe, including conflicts between "culturism" and universalism, between national-romantic primordialism and cosmopolitan post-national identities, and between territory and escape from territory. Part II deals with potential tensions between Russia and Europe and the possible emergence of a new European "wall" between an extended NATO on the one hand and Russia and the CIS on the other. Part III focuses on the borderland between Europe, Russia, and the Muslim world, with particular emphasis on the former Yugoslavia as a site of conflict between the new "metaphorical empires." While this book is written primarily for scholars and students of political science, international relations and political geography, it will also be of interest to diplomats and journalists.