Introduction

Abstract

The collection of essays in this book is the result of a conference on ‘Sovereignty and the Law of the Sea: Aegean Sea Issues after the Cold War’, convened in Ottawa, Canada, in mid-November 1996, and attended by academics from Canada, Greece, Israel, Italy, and the United States. Although the catalyst for the meeting was recent events culminating in the Imia crisis in January of that year, it represented an opportunity for like-minded academics to explore co-operative research opportunities on Aegean and Balkan issues. At the end of that conference, it was the hope of participants that the transatlantic dialogue among academics interested in this region could be further expanded to include academics from Turkey and other Balkan states in the interests of open and fruitful exchanges and, eventually, joint research.