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331. Building Stability in Weak States - The Western Balkans - 4th Workshop of the Study Group "Crisis Management in South East Europe"

Author:
Janusz Bugajski, Aldo Bumçi, Spyros Damtsas, Enver Hasani, Constantin Hlihor, Predrag Jureković, Antonio Leitao, Todor Mirkovic, Albert Rakipi, and Filip Tunjic
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
"Building Stability in Weak States" was the topic of a workshop of the Woking Group "Crisis Management in South East Europe" of the PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes which was held from 10-11 November 2001 in Tirana. It is no coincidence, however, that the initiative to develop this important topic for the development of security policy in South East Europe originated at the Albanian Institute for International Studies. Albania is seen as typical "weak State" in South East Europe, even though it has recovered from the quasi-civil war of 1997. This publication has ten articles by conference participants ranging from theoretical discussions to case studies from the region.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, NATO, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans

332. Theories at a loss? EU-NATO fusion and the 'low-politicisation' of security and defence in European integration

Author:
Hanna Ojanen
Publication Date:
01-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
In the European Union, security and defence integration was for a long time seen as impossible or at least highly unlikely. Theories of European integration leaned complacently on the idea that security and defence policy have a specific character that explains this state of affairs. Yet, recent developments seem seriously to challenge their assumptions: the new joint EU crisis management with military means is bound at least to affect, if not replace, the traditional defence policy of the member states.
Topic:
Defense Policy, NATO, International Organization, and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe

333. NATO as a Factor of Security Community Building: Enlargement and Democratization in Central and Eastern Europe

Author:
Corneliu Bjola
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
This analysis is primarily concerned with examining the building blocks and mechanisms through which NATO extends its institutional and normative influence and contributes (or not) to reducing chances for military conflict and political tension in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by integrating the region into the Western security community. In terms of political stakes, the prospects of forming a CEE security community would be seriously undermined if NATO enlargement and partnership programs were perceived as facilitating the evolution of a regional arms race, driven by aggressive foreign policies and sponsored by widespread nationalism and regional mistrust. The formation of the CEE security community would be more likely if the institutional and normative adjustments induced by NATO's cooperative security arrangements were viewed as promoting the democratic development of the political-military structures driven by non-nationalist and region-wide, cooperative attitudes.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, NATO, and Democratization
Political Geography:
Europe

334. The Politics of European Enlargement: NATO, the EU and the New U.S.-European Relationship

Author:
Howard J. Wiarda
Publication Date:
02-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the end of the Cold War, the main issues in Eastern and Central Europe, and in U.S. and European policy toward the area, have focused on achieving peace and stability, building democracy, accomplishing economic and institutional reform, accelerating growth and modernization, and anchoring and integrating the countries of the area into Europe and its two great “clubs”: the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It could be said that the last three goals listed–democracy, economic and institutional reform, and European integration–were all means to the end of achieving peace and stability in this critical area, not known historically for its stable, peaceful politics, as well as to the end of securing a buffer zone on Europe's eastern frontiers that would also function as a means to hem in and limit any future Russian resurgence. What may have begun in strategic planners' eyes as a means to an end, however, has since then taken on a life of its own.
Topic:
International Relations, NATO, Cold War, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, and North Atlantic

335. The Adapted CFE Treaty and the Admission of the Baltic States to NATO

Author:
Zdzislaw Lachowski
Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Twelve years after conventional arms control began in Europe, the process is about to enter a new, critical stage as it extends to cover the entire continent. This will eventually rid it of the cold war 'straitjacket' and consolidate political and military security in the space extending from the Atlantic to the Urals.
Topic:
NATO and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Europe

336. Europe's New Security Vocation

Author:
Michael Brenner
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
The idea of a European Security and Defense Identity (ESDI) has been a feature of the transatlantic security dialogue for a decade. The 1991 Maastricht Treaty foresaw an eventual incorporation of the Western European Union (WEU) as the defense arm of the European Union (EU). Endowing the Union with military capability was a logical extension of the commitment to a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) as stipulated in the treaty. Both ideas, promoted by France and Germany, expressed the general desire of member states to play a more active role in securing the peace and stability of postcommunist Europe. Extending the principle of integration into the foreign policy field served two purposes. It was a means to tighten community bonds in the new, unsettled strategic environment by providing reassurance against the renationalization of defense policies. At the same time, it laid the basis for a collective effort to influence continental affairs consonant with the European venture in an orderly transition to democracy and market economies. The perceived need to add a security building block to the project of "constructing Europe" also reflected apprehension about a possible retreat of the United States from a Europe now free of the Soviet military threat. That possibility added further reason for West Europeans to make contingency plans for an uncertain future.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, France, Soviet Union, and Germany

337. Learning from Case Studies

Author:
Malcolm Chalmers
Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
When countries are accepted into NATO membership, it will become more difficult to 'test' them on a pass/fail basis since, by virtue of the fact that they will have been accepted into the 'club', they will already have passed. Increasingly, therefore, some other form of process will be needed in order to promote improvements in democratic control of the armed forces in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and NATO
Political Geography:
Europe

338. Reform of the Czech Security Sector (Including a Brief Assessment of the Slovak Security Sector Reform)

Author:
Jan Jires
Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to provide an overall account of the Czech security sector reform that followed the fall of the communist regime in 1989. Especially the period starting in 1997 will be emphasized, since only that year, in connection with the on-coming accession to NATO, a really profound reform of country's security system and security sector began.
Topic:
Security, NATO, and Democratization
Political Geography:
Europe

339. Criteria for Success of Failure in Security Sector Reform: The Case of Latvia

Author:
Janis Arved Trapans
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
Since 1991 Latvia no longer has been in the Soviet world and is intent on returning to the Western community of nations--politically, economically, and socially. Politically, Latvia has restored a democratic, parliamentary system of government. Economically, it is bringing back a free market system. Socially, it wants to have what is generally called a “civil society”. All this influences defence reform. When Latvia regained independence and the Soviet Army withdrew, according to a NATO Parliamentary Assembly Report “(All) that was left behind consisted of 26 sunken submarines and ships leaking acid, oil, and phosphorous. On this foundation Latvia began building its armed forces.” The military infrastructure was in ruins and equipment and logistical support were almost non-existent. Latvia had to build everything ab initio and that demanded resources and time. However it did not inherit a large bloc of former Warsaw Pact as the national forces of a newly sovereign state. It did not have to reduce a massive military force structure or restructure redundant defence industries, deprived of domestic markets, as many other transition states have had to do. Latvia's reform problems have been different from those in other Central European countries. In some ways, Latvia was in a less advantageous situation than other transition states, in other ways, in a better one.
Topic:
Defense Policy, NATO, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe, Soviet Union, and Latvia

340. Transatlantic Relations in a Unipolar World

Author:
William Wohlforth
Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
The state of transatlantic relations is normal - arguably in crisis, arguably not; poised for fundamental change, or for basic continuity. The usual question for conferences on transatlantic relations is whether this situation will continue. My purpose in this paper is to set forth a perspective on the future of the transatlantic relationship based on the central realist proposition that the distribution of capabilities among states is an important background influence on their behaviour. Major changes in international relations often arise from changes in the distribution of power. Important features of the Cold War resulted from the great concentration of power in the United States and the Soviet Union - a condition that came to be called "bipolarity." The Cold War ended in significant measure owing to changes in the distribution of power - namely, the decline and fall of the Soviet Union. As a result of Soviet and Russian decline, a new unipolar distribution has emerged with new consequences for international politics in general and the transatlantic relationship in particular.
Topic:
International Relations and NATO
Political Geography:
United States and Europe