This is a volume of scholarly essays that considers the meaning of Europe by examining aspects of Central European history as well as issues dealing with the EU's enlargement into Central Europe. These factors contribute to ideas of a definition of Europe that reflects the values and aspirations of all its citizens.

Autorentext
BASAK Z. ALPAN Doctoral Candidate and Research Student, Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, UK M. B. B. BISKUPSKI S. A. Blejwas Endowed Chair in Polish History, Central Connecticut State University, USA JULIANE BRANDT Researcher, Institute for German Culture and History in South East Europe (IKGS), Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Germany OSKAR GRUENWALD Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, Canada MOJMIR KRI AN Freelancer, Germany JOHN J. KULCZYCKI Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA FRANCESCO LEONCINI Professor of Slavic History and of Central European History, Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia, Venice, Italy LAURE NEUMAYER Assistant Professor of Political Science, l'Université de Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne, France INGRID RÖDER PhD-Researcher, Jean Monnet Centre for European Studies, University of Bremen, Germany STEFAN SAMERSKI Professor, Catholic Faculty, Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, Germany AN SCHRIJVERS Research Assistant and PhD Candidate, Centre for European Union Studies, Department of Political Science, Ghent University, Belgium KRISTA ZACH Visiting Professor for European Studies in History, Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Inhalt
Introduction; S.J.Kirschbaum PART I: WHENCE CENTRAL EUROPE? European Roots: The Case of Slovakia; S.J.Kirschbaum Federalism in Central Europe: Past and Present; L.Francesco Toward an Open Society: Reflections on the 1989 Revolution; O.Gruenwald PART II: THE LEGACY OF THE NATIONAL STATE St. Stephen's Cult in Modern Hungary; J.Brandt The Quest for a Symbol: Wenceslas and the Czech State; S.Samerski Moldavian Prince Stephen and Romania; K.Zach The Invention of Modern Poland: Pilsudski and the Politics of Symbolism; M.B.B.Biskupski An Ethnic Poland: A Failure of National Self-Determination; J.J.Kulczycki PART III: THE CHALLENGES OF EU MEMBERSHIP Intellectual and Political "Europe": Rupture or Continuity in Central Europe?; B.Alpan Euroscepticism; L.Neumayer Europeanization and Gender Equality; I.Röder Poland and the EU Constitutional Convention; A.Schrijvers The EU and Interculturality in Croatia; M.Krizan Conclusion; S.J.Kirschbaum