Inauspicious Beginnings shows that at the end of the Cold War many experts in the international community expected a new world order to emerge in which international security institutions - such as the United Nations Security Council and NATO - would play a major role in preventing and ending conflicts. But while the 1990s proved to be a decade of international insecurity and major humanitarian disasters, thus demonstrating the need for a wider and more efficient system of security institutions, the principal powers failed to create them. Instead, the emerging order was marked by the overwhelming power of the United States, which, under the Bush Sr and Clinton administrations, did not see such a system as a necessity. The authors detail how the Bush and Clinton administrations relied on catering to allies and building large coalitions to deal with major international security challenges, while other principal powers were either pre-occupied with their domestic problems or deferred to the United States. As a consequence, on the eve of 11 September 2001 the United Nations Security Council remained an older, outmoded power configuration incapable of responding efficiently to the with novel challenges besetting it. Its relevance has been further questioned by the unilateral occupation of Iraq by the United States.

Recipient of "Outstanding Academic Book" Award--CHOICE, 1999 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, perhaps more than any other Cold War institution, embodied the West's determination to deter potential Soviet aggression in Europe. But nearly a decade after the collapse of the Soviet empire, the Atlantic Alliance is engaged in cooperative security endeavors with former adversaries throughout Europe, including peacekeeping operations in Bosnia. In this ambitious study, David Yost analyzes the major changes in the alliance and its new roles. While the Allies remain committed to collective defense, they have increasingly endowed NATO with new roles as an instrument of collective security. NATO Transformed provides a comprehensive survey and analysis of the current debate on the alliance's enlargement and its new cooperative security institutions--including the Partnership for Peace and the special consultative forums with Russia and Ukraine--and the demands of crisis management and peacekeeping operations beyond NATO territory. Drawing on international political theory and the history of other alliances, Yost identifies crucial challenges for the cohesion and effectiveness of "the new NATO."

This book examines the perception of European Union’s identity by the main actors in international relations. Analysing issues related to public discourse in third countries as demonstrated by, amongst others, their political elites, civil society, and think-tanks, the book highlights a ‘normative gap’ with regards to the European Union's self-definition/perception and its perception in the international environment. It also shows that the European Union’s perception of normative power in international relations is not shared consistently by the main principal actor yet is differentiated relative to geographical area and scope of activities undertaken by the EU. It demonstrates that the perception of the EU’s normative identity is a source of the crisis of the European Union as an effective and significant player in the international arena. This book will be of key interest to scholar and students of European Union politics, European politics/studies, European integration, identity politics, and international relations.

An introduction to the main issues of American foreign policy as it has evolved during the first post-Cold War presidency. There are substantive excerpts from major presidential policy statements to illustrate the points and turning points discussed in each chapter. The collection is intended as a supplementary text in American foreign policy and contemporary international relations. It includes a bibliography and a guide to accessing contemporary foreign policy information on line.