Es handelt sich um das erste Buch in einer neuen Reihe, das vom NATO Defense College herausgegeben wird. Ziele dieser Monographie sind: "to analyse the roots of some of the most significant ethnically-based (or ethnically-worded) conflicts in Europe, to define their participants' rationales, and to answer the question of how they relate to the issue of European security" (12). Basis der Analyse bilden zwei Länderfallstudien über das frühere Jugoslawien sowie Bulgarien. Inhaltsübersicht: 1. Minorities in the Balkans: The historical roots; 2. Nation-states in the Balkans; 3. Yugoslavia and Bulgaria and their minorities between the two world wars; 4. Minorities as basic flash points after the fall of Communism; 5. Minorities after the collapse of Communism: The temptation of self-determination; 6. The conflicts in the Balkans and the international community; 7. The minorities' issue in a security framework.