The states system of Europe, 1640-1990 : peacemaking and the conditions of international stability

Andreas Osiander examines the four major European peace congresses: Mnster and Osnabrck (1644-8); Utrecht (1712-15); Vienna (1814-15); and Paris (1919-20) and shows how a prevailing consensus on certain structural concepts has influenced the evolution of the European states system and determined its stability or lack of stability. A concluding chapter reviews the period since 1920 in the light of this analysis.