Europe and the Breakup of Yugoslavia: A Political Failure in Search of a Scholarly Explanation

"This book provides a detailed analysis of the response of Western Europe to the disintegration of Yugoslavia. The account pays particular attention to the behaviour of the major Member States of the European Community (later Union), i.e. France, Britain and Germany, in two crucial moments of debate and decision-making: the diplomatic recognition of Slovenia and Croatia in 1991, and the debate on the desirability and form of a possible military intervention in the warring country. By combing three theoretical approaches to the study of international politics - neorealism, neoliberal institutionalism and liberal intergovermentalism - Lucarelli provides a theoretically informed analysis of the main forces behind Western Europe's response to the Yugoslav wars. Conclusions are drawn on the major characteristics of Western Europe's management of the conflict, the interplay of international and domestic factors behind the behaviour of Western European states, the relative explanatory power of each of the three theoretical perspectives and their common research tradition, and the prospective of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union. The book's reconstruction and evaluation of conflict management in ex-Yugoslavia, its attention on the influence of the European integration process on the foreign poicy of its Member States, and its innovative use and assessment of International Relations theoretical tools, make it of topical interest for a wide range of scholars interested in both international and European political affairs."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved