International law, international relations and the development of European collective security

The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of both the former-USSR and the Warsaw Pact has inevitably led to a major reorientation of European defence and security concepts. NATO, whilst retaining its core remit as a defence alliance founded upon Article 51 of the UN Charter, has begun increasingly to take on significant characteristics as a regional peace support actor. The Western European Union (WEU) after long lying moribund has been revived as a possibly, if not very probably, major security actor in a manner closely related to controversies over the political future of the EU. These developments, in parallel with the uncertain future roles of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the CIS, raise many questions in the fields of international relations and international law about the continuing development and future structure of European security architecture. Significant as some or all of these developments are, or may potentially be, in their present European context, they cannot properly be understood without reference to much broader historical and political contexts