Publisher's Synopsis
The current disarray within the European Community over issues such as the ERM and Maastricht stands in ironic contrast to the unity of purpose with which the Member States have operated joint initiatives, whether to provide financial assistance to the countries of East-Central Europe or peace-keeping initiatives in Bosnia, the first major test of its policy initiative. More recently, the potential trade war with the US illustrates how, despite internal disagreements, external factors can become a catalyst for the process of integration. At a time of increasing instability on a global scale, a unified foreign policy is essential.;This volume uses theoretical analysis on the nature of foreign policy co-operation in Western Europe to explain the evolution of the EC's external relations during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Particular attention is paid to this inextricable relationship between external factors and the process of integration and between politics and economics in the EC's fledgling foreign policy.
