The Changing Structure of Europe [antikvár]

Preface This is a study of Europe ia the mid-sixties and a look into the seventies, prepared by a group of scholars from the University of Minnesota. Its goal is to explore both from an interdisciplinary standpoint and from that of their respective disciplines the major economic, educational, political, military, and social issues of the era. The research team spent 1966-67 in Europe, ranging widely in the process of inquiry and visiting, in the person of one or more of its members, every European country with the exception of Albania. Three of its five members returned in the summer of 1968, spending most of their time in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union during a period which saw the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia. The focus of the analysis is indicated in the introduction which foUows and need not be speUed out here. It should be noted, however, that this is a summary volume, written essentially for the nonspecialist and greatly compressing the more specific analyses of the respective contributors; specialized monographs by several of them are in press or nearing completion. Before the formulation of this project members of the group had spent a total of some twenty years in Europe in studies involving aspects of the contemporary international scene. The more immediate genesis of the project lies in several years of discussions and seminars which they undertook in the period 1963-66. From these it became clear that it would be most profitable for the group to spend a period of titne in Europe itself to explore the many issues which had arisen in such discussions. The field work was made possible through grants provided by the office of International Programs of the University of Minnesota from funds made available by the Ford Foundation and by the Louis W. and Maude Hill Family Foundation. To these organizations we are deeply indebted for making this study possible. We are likewise most grateful to the scores of Europeans and members of American embassy staffs who generously gave of their time and knowl-