Situated right on the tectonic fault line of two competing ideologies and military alliances of the Cold War, and infused with national, cultural, and religious diversity, the region of the Balkans is particularly suited for the study of the Cold War. The book explores both the roots, evolution, and impact of the Cold War itself in the Balkans, as well as the specific weight of local conditions and pressures.

Sixteen historians, political scientists, and professors of international relations examine a range of complex topics that rarely coexist in a concise publication: the Balkans and the creation of the global order during the Cold War; military alliances in the Balkans; the awkward relationships of Balkan states with superpowers; the dilemmas of the region in the 1970s and 1980s and their relationship with the EEC; identity, culture, and ideology issues.

This is a groundbreaking contribution to the literature on the Cold War, as the authors rely on extensive archival research, both in local and American, former Soviet, and Western European archives. The series GLOBAL AND MODERN HISTORY includes works by Greek and foreign authors on Greek, European, and world history with an insightful and unorthodox perspective. Today's inquiries are connected to events, ideas, and dynamics of the past. The series highlights History as a living piece of the identities and decisions that accompany our steps in the present and the future.