Europe is an area that was formerly composed of mutually warring states. The last serious war in the area ended in 1945. Since then there have been agreements to prevent wars. The first of these was the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation which meant in practice there was an American military presence in many of the western European states; the next was the European Coal and Steel Community, followed by EURATOM and the European Economic Community. In the field of Human Rights the Council of Europe was formed to promote human rights, with a Court of Human Rights to allow citizens of the member states to appeal from their national courts.

The EEC at first was formed by a core group of six members - France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. Its intention was to bring together the member states, especially France and Germany, so that they could never again fight each other. It would seem to have been successful and the membership has expanded to cover almost of western Europe (except Norway, Iceland and Switzerland) and more recently Central and Eastern Europe as well.

The wars of southeastern Europe which started as Yugoslavia broke up into its component parts are probably over now. Tensions between Greece and Turkey also seem to have subsided. Remaining areas of conflict are now confined to the regional disputes in Spain - Basque country - and in Northern Ireland. The second of these may be finally over, except for a degree of criminal behavior, and some dissident diehards in the Republican movement.