DEFENSE POLICIES OF EAST-CENTRAL EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AFTER 1989 creating stability in a... time of uncertainty

East-Central European countries, the Visegrád Four to include the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, have developed a divergence of approaches to key issues of national defense. Measures of defense capability include size of defense budgets, numbers of persons in the armed forces, and willingness to engage in foreign deployments led by NATO and the EU that act as integrating forces within the region. The communist experiences of earlier decades have acted as legacies that have shaped countries’ post-1989 approaches to national and regional defense. However, the evolution of liberal-democratic patterns and systems have played a meaningful role as well. In spite of those convergence experiences and patterns, divergence among them has characterized their interactions as well. Poland has been more willing to take on regional defense obligations, while the other three have been more reluctant. Since the 2014 Ukrainian Crisis, a strident and divisive nationalism has shaken each of them and modified their approaches to defense issues. 'The book explores through a comparative framework the post-Cold War defense policies of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. It also outlines their preparedness to confront the Russian challenge that has emerged since 2014. The work contributes to understandings of the evolution of defense capabilities, foreign policy approaches, and specific policies of respective countries since 1989. The authors anchor their analysis in the unique historical experiences of each of the four, as their pasts provide unique legacies that infuse the overall character of current defense postures. The key theoretical concept entails the alternation of the defense themes of convergence and divergence among the four nations in the region. They converged in imperial pasts, establishment of independent statehood after World War I, submission to Nazi regimes in the late 1930s, the rise of ruling communist parties after World War II, and anti-communist revolutions in 1989. However, they have diverged in many ways that pertain to defense policies. Contrasts include the different imperial powers under which they lived before 1914, the divergent political systems that evolved in the interwar period, their diversified challenges to communist rule, and varied responses to Russian advances toward the region that were evident in the 2014 Ukrainian-Crimean crisis. The book will be useful to students and professors in the areas of political history, comparative politics, international relations, and post-communists studies. Students both in specialized, upper-level undergraduate courses and in pertinent graduate programs will benefit from reading this book. Foreign policy practitioners in Europe and the United States would gain valuable information for the practice of their careers. Dr. James W. Peterson has authored four books in the last six years on defense policy. They pertain to the post-1989 changed nature of NATO missions, proposals for creating stability in Southeast Europe and the Black Sea region, American involvement in war in the 1914-2014 period, and Russian-American relations in the post-Cold War years. Dr. Jacek Lubecki Dr. Jacek Lubecki authored articles on Polish military and political history and Polish participation in Iraqi war of 2003-03' --Back cover Front matter Contents List of tables Acknowledgements List of abbreviations and acronyms Introduction and overview Theoretical framework: liberalism, realism, and constructivism Empires and peripheries: security and defense realities of East-Central Europe Communism and late communism: from forced convergence to divergence The Czech Republic: a reluctant ally Hungary: imperial legacies and post-imperial realities Poland: return to the West? Slovakia: politics from the periphery Recapitulation: from convergence to divergence and back? References Index This book clarifies the ways in which the defense policies of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia have responded to the new atmosphere on the edge of Europe, in light of Russian aggressiveness during and after the 2013-2014 Ukrainian-Crimean crisis. -- .