ABSTRACT
When asked some years ago to evaluate the French Revolution, a Chinese dignitary famously said: “it’s too early to judge.” Twenty years may be a much shorter period in history but I don’t think that we risk sounding presumptuous if we deem the events of 1989 the crossroads in the development of contemporary Europe. Some historians consider the year 1989 as the de facto end of the Second World War; others see it as actually marking the end of the 20th century, with our 21st century starting out, in fact, on September 11, 2001.
