ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE Since the 1970s, environmental issues have become a major concern for European citizens and thus for European politicians. In the same time frame the political sphere in Europe, and in particular within the European Union, has also been undergoing major transformations. Dealing with environmental issues over more than fifty years in a historical perspective enables us to gain a better understanding of these transformations, notably the emergence of a European public sphere and how this is changing decision-making processes. Drawing on recent research results from various disciplines, including history, sociology, law and political sciences, this volume addresses the methodological challenge of a European perspective on a transnational subject - one that is commonly distorted by a national prism. It shows how perceptions of the environment are increasingly converging and how these convergences of views across political or linguistic borders in the long run exert an undeniable influence not only on political debates but also on political decisions across Europe. Revealing European characteristics of perceptions, debates and policies, this volume contributes to a history of Europeanisation beyond the usual political turning points and limits.

He was at the forefront of some of Germany's most definitive and controversial decisions, in his role as the first Social Democrat Chancellor of West Germany between 1969 and 1974. In this period he paved the way for the eventual reunification of the country, as well as strengthening European integration in western Europe. In 1971, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for 'Ostpolitik', his policy of reconciliation with Germany's neighbours in the Eastern Bloc. During the treaty negotiations in Warsaw, he famously fell to his knees in recognition of the atrocities committed by his countrymen in the Warsaw Ghetto. This definitive new biography illuminates Brandt's personal life and political career, providing new perspectives on one of the leading statesmen of the twentieth century.

Funfzig Jahre nach den Pariser Vertragen 1954 wird diese volkerrechtlich entscheidende Etappe fur das Verhaltnis der Bundesrepublik zu den Schutzmachten und vor allem zu Frankreich in den Kontext der zeitgenossischen politischen, okonomischen, gesellschaftlichen und kulturellen Wandlungsprozesse - etwa der beginnenden westeuropaischen Integration - gestellt. Massen- und Konsumkultur kommen ebenso zur Sprache wie die Entwicklungen der Demographie, der Familien oder der Medien. Franzosisch-deutsche Annaherungen rucken auf so unterschiedlichen Ebenen wie den Gewerkschaften, den Schriftstellern oder dem Sport ins Blickfeld. Mit der Untersuchung von Ausmass und Grenzen von "Westernisierung" und "Amerikanisierung" werden Fragestellungen, die bisher eher in einer bilateralen und auf jeweils andere Partner bezogenen Perspektive erforscht wurden, in einer deutsch-franzosischen Perspektive vergleichend thematisiert."