Thema dieses Buches ist die Frage nach der neuen Identität Mitteleuropas. In den Beiträgen werden die geopolitische Lage der Region, die sowohl durch ihre zentrale Lage als auch durch ihre Brückenfunktion zwischen Ost und West bestimmt wird, der Transformationsprozeß sowie Wanderungsbewegungen untersucht. Die Beiträge wurden von den Herausgeberinnen und dem Herausgeber aus den Referaten des "International Geographical Union's Congress", der 1994 in Prag stattfand, ausgewählt. Inhalt: 1. Geopolitical Perspectives: Francis W. Carter: Central Europe. Fact or Geographical Fiction? (9-44); Violette Rey: The New Central Europe: Waiting For Convergence? (45-62); Vladimir Kolossov: Geopolitical Scenarios for Eastern and Central Europe in a Post-bipolar World (63-72); Milan Bufon: Some Political-Geographical Problems of Transition in Central Europe: The Case of Slovenia (73-89); Mladen Klememcic: Croatia and Central Europe: Past and Future Prospects (91-96). 2. Spatial Patterns and Trends: 2.1 The Transformation Process: 2.1.1 General Issues: Antoni Kuklinski: Research Priorities in the Transformation of Central Europe (99-112); Petr Dostál / Martin Hampl: Transformation of East-Central Europe: General Principles under Differentiating Conditions (113-128); György Enyedi: New Regional Processes in Post-Socialist Central Europe (129-136); Elisabeth Lichtenberger: The Geography of Transition in East-Central Europe: Society and Settlement Systems (137-152); Marie-Claude Maurel: Post-Collectivist Local Societies in Central Europe (153-157); René Verhoeff: The Transformation of International Tourism in Central Europe - Between State and Market (159-174); Lauren Eastwood: From Revolution to Dissolution: Recent Transitions of the Eastern European Environmental Movement (175-186). 2.1.2 Regional Issues: Alma Bianchetti: Friuli-Venezia Giulia: Problems and Prospects of a Central European Border and Bridge Region in the Process of European Integration (189-215); Bronislaw Kortus: Recent Economic Transformation in Poland (217-236); Stephan Barisitz: Changes in Trade Patterns - The Case of Austria (237-244). 2.2 Patterns of Migration: Marek Kupiszewski: The Future of East-West Migration in Europe (247-268); Dušan Drbohlav: Selected Aspects of Probable Future European East-West International Migration (269-296); Judit Juhász / Zoltám Dövényi: Hungary: Social and Geographical Aspects of Recent Trends in International Migration (297-317); Nadine Cattan / Claude Grasland / Stanislav Rehák: Migration Flows between the Czech and Slovak Republics - Which Form of Transition? (319-336).