Putting the present crisis of the European Union into a historical and geopolitical context To understand the current difficulties and future prospects of European integration, multiple perspectives are required. The essays in this collection explore historical and geopolitical aspects of European integration and their relevance to interpretations of the current climate. They also examine the different regional dynamics of integration and the attitudes that result from those experiences, including those in European peripheries which are so often overshadowed by the dominant centres. In drawing all of these perspectives together, the collection allows the reader to assess the EU's current crisis in context. Johann P. Arnason is Emeritus Professor of Sociology, La Trobe University, an Associate of the Faculty of Human Studies, Charles University, Prague and an Editor-at-Large of Social Imaginaries.