Basic Documents on United Nations and Related Peace-Keeping Forces

The collapse of the totalitarian system & the disintegration of the Soviet Union took the West by complete surprise. For many years Western cooperation & West European integration proceeded on the assumption that the division of Europe & Germany would be there to stay. As a consequence, the Western states are now having great difficulties in adapting their cooperative arrangements to the challenges of a new European environment, & in coping with the political problems that had been swept under the carpet for the sake of preserving 'bipolar stability'. In his new book, Alting von Geusau offers a fresh & timely analysis of Western cooperation from a post-totalitarian perspective. He reminds the reader of America's involvement & the tragic consequences of the two world wars. He explains why 'the order of Yalta' was a myth & how the Soviet designs for Europe were ultimately defeated by civil resistance. Post-war American leadership created the free space for the remarkable growth of Western organisations & the dynamics of European integration. American & French policies of containment are reexamined for the same post-totalitarian perspective... & found in need to adapt to the new realities. In two final chapters, the author carefully reviews the agreements reached in the principal Western & European organizations between November 1989 & January 1992 with a view to adapting their tasks to the new Europe. He also underlines the emerging importance of a new partnership between the United States & united Germany. Combining historical, legal & political analysis, this new title is an important source of reference & a highly useful textbook for advanced students in European organization & Western cooperation. In addition it will be especially useful to training programmes for scholars, students & diplomats from East & Central Europe & the republics of the former Soviet Union.Siekmann, Robert C. is the author of 'Basic Documents on United Nations and Related Peace-Keeping Forces', published 1989 under ISBN 9789024737017 and ISBN 902473701X.