A guide to the new Europe of the 1990s, this text combines the expertise of leading international experts to chart the political and economic contours of a Europe transformed by the disintegration of the Soviet empire, the transitions in Central and South-Eastern Europe, German unification and the drive towards closer European union. Detailing the many recent changes to Europe's political and economic map, a central theme of this book is the enduring weight of history, the complex policy built up in Western Europe over the past 45 years of which familiar traits can still be clearly defined.