National minorities and the European nation-states system

The collapse of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union has resulted in a proliferation of discontented national minorities. Thus, the need for destabilizing ethnic conflict has become acute. National minorities have accordingly emerged as a major focus of international relations in post-Cold War Europe.

Jennifer Jackson Preece's new study offers an innovative analysis of these developments. Scrutinizing them within the historical context of changing practices and evolving norms, she reveals that the European national minority question is nothing new - rather its foundations extend deep into contemporary history. Moreover, the problem is intrinsically derivative of the nation-states system itself, a system that potentially intensifies minority disaffection.