This is different “It’s over with Yalta!” - said French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Vladimir Putin, urging him to recognize the independence of Kosovo. He was referring to the agreements reached at the Yalta Conference in the spring of 1945 on the post-war structure and security system of Europe and beyond.

The decline of communism ushered in a new era of globalisation, characterised by the rapid transfer of technology and capital, the liberalisation of migration flows, and the division of global production into technological zones engaged in intense cooperation and trade.