Georgetown University Press Castle on a Hill: The Visegrad Group, Regionalism, and the Remaking of Europe

The post-Cold War reunification of Europe and emergence of NATO and the European Union are taken for granted now. Little appreciated outside the region of Central Europe is the role of the four-country Visegrad Group--the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia--in making NATO and the EU open their doors to new members. Castle on a Hill is the first book-length account of the genesis of the Visegrad Group which recasts modern European history to understand its significant role in changing political mindsets and refashioning the European continent. This book identifies Visegrad’s weaknesses, oversteps, and missteps, including its controversial propulsion to international fame for successfully derailing European Union plans to resettle non-Europeans during the “migrant crisis.” Enriched through unique interviews conducted over many years, and the engagement with policy makers and analysts both inside and well beyond this region, this book also offers insights for the wider study of regionalism from this unsung and often-misunderstood regional cooperation initiative. Castle on a Hill shows how Visegrad has changed central Europe, largely for the better, and will appeal to scholars and policymakers interested in study of regions and regionalism in international relations as well as others involved in international affairs in the region.