In this book, scholars and practitioners from both sides of the divide, Czech and Slovak, as well as experts from the United States and France, seek to explain why, after the collapse of the communist regime, Czechoslovakia split into two separate states. In trying to interpret the causes and processes of a modern state's peaceful disintegration, the authors, though addressing the subject from their own viewpoints, have used an analytical, non-evaluative approach. The study also seeks to fulfil other objectives--both theoretical and practical. On the one hand, the Czechoslovak experience is used to explore the concepts and instruments of European integration as a whole, and the theory of contemporary nationalisms; on the other, it could well have some practical policy implications for those countries facing similar problems.