«Opening of the East», transformation of the communist countries and membership in the European Union produce new opportunities and risks for the regions of Europe. A special dimension in this context is cross-border co-operation. A number of developments have taken place in recent decades in this respect, but many questions are still open or remain ambiguous. This book discusses this situation in a wider societal context and with a special focus on the Alps-Adriatic territory. Special attention is given to the idea of a «Europe of Regions» and its various realisations, be it the construct of Euroregion or diverse European Union policies. If one should want to draw a general conclusion from this book then this might be that, at the brink of the 21st Century, Europe is again in a process where the cards between central powers and regions are being reshuffled.
