ABSTRACT
"European security architecture" suggests a set of political institutions that are or can be expressive of developments within the European historical-cultural milieu. The most obvious and ancient understanding of Europe lies in its geographic boundaries. In addition to uniting a group of independent political actors that in normal circumstances was more often at odds with itself, the image of the Ottoman Turks assumed a conceptual importance ideologically for Europe. In any consideration of the emerging European security architecture, not only must one address the style, shape, and layout of the "common European house"; its very dimensions are a matter for investigation. The understanding of Europe only as a label for an inhabited region persisted long into the Christian era. The issue of membership within the European "family" retains political importance. The inability to accommodate powers of differing strengths, military and economic, has always put paid to previous attempts to unify Europe.
