Europe and the EU have reached a new stage of development as a result of several influences, external and internal. Throughout the European Union, there is a strong need to discover the essence of integration and to explore the identity, and to analyse the present state and the future of the EU. This book focuses on the forces that have had – and will have – an impact on integration and on the consequences for the development of the Union. The focus is on some of the major challenges that will be faced by the world striving towards a new order and by Europe looking for its identity, direction and place in that world. In the strong crosscurrents of global and national interests and players integration and regional co-operation are ways to meet these challenges.