Democratic Control of the Military in Postcommunist Europe: Guarding the Guards (One Europe or Several?)

## Preface This book is the product of a research project on 'The Transformation of Civil-Military Relations in Comparative Context', funded by the Economic and Social Research Council's 'One Europe or Several?' research programme (award number L213 25 2009). The project examines the transformation of civil-military relations in the countries of postcommunist Central and Eastern Europe, exploring emerging patterns of civil-military relations in the region, the policy challenges these raise and the implications for more general understandings of the changing nature of civil-military relations in the contemporary world. Within this context, this book provides a comparative analysis of the experiences of the countries of postcommunist Europe in attempting to secure democratic control of armed forces. Three further volumes, also to be published in Palgrave's ESRC 'One Europe or Several?' series, will address the issue of professionalization of armed forces in Central and Eastern Europe, wider military-society relations in the region and the overall challenge of reforming postcommunist militaries. The chapters in this book were first presented at a conference on 'Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Central and Eastern Europe: Civil-Military Relations and Defence Planning in the New Era', held in Kyiv, in March 2000. The conference was funded by the Directorate for Central and Eastern Europe of the UK Ministry of Defence and held in conjunction with the Kyiv office of the EastWest Institute. We wish to express our thanks to Oleksandr Pavliuk, director of the EastWest Institute's Kyiv office, the staff of that office, and the participants in the conference. Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction: the Challenge of Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Postcommunist Europe....Pages 1-17 Front Matter....Pages 19-19 Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Postcommunist Poland: the Interplay of History, Political Society and Institutional Reform....Pages 21-43 Democratic Control of Armed Forces in the Czech Republic: a Journey from Social Isolation....Pages 44-63 Civil-Military Relations in Hungary: No Big Deal....Pages 64-87 Front Matter....Pages 89-89 Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Latvia....Pages 91-107 The Challenges of Civil-Military Relations and Democratic Control of Armed Forces: the Case of Lithuania....Pages 108-125 Front Matter....Pages 127-127 Defence Planning in Emerging Democracies: the Case of Romania....Pages 129-139 The Changing Nature of Civil-Military Relations in Post-Totalitarian Bulgaria....Pages 140-158 Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Slovenia....Pages 159-173 ‘Like Drunken Geese in the Fog’: Developing Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Croatia....Pages 174-193 The European Exception: Civil-Military Relations in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)....Pages 194-211 Front Matter....Pages 213-213 The Evolution of Civil-Military Relations in Russia....Pages 215-232 The Development of Civil-Military Relations in Post-Soviet Ukraine....Pages 233-247 Front Matter....Pages 249-249 Soldiers, Politics and Defence in Postcommunist Europe....Pages 251-264 Back Matter....Pages 265-273 This major comparative study examines the challenges that the countries of postcommunist Central and Eastern Europe have faced in securing democratic control of their armed forces and establishing civilian control of defence policy. This book explores how the interaction of the common challenges of postcommunism and the diverse circumstances of individual countries shape civil-military relations in this changing region. Detailed country case studies, written by leading experts, compare the experiences of the Central European states (such as Poland and Romania), the Baltic republics, the former Yugoslavia republics, Russia and Ukraine. This comparative study examines the challenges that the countries of post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe have faced in securing democratic control of their armed forces and establishing civilian control of defence policy. This book explores how the interaction of the common challenges of post-Communism and the diverse circumstances of individual countries shape civil military relations in this changing region. Detailed country case studies, written by leading experts, compare the experiences of the Central European states (such as Poland and Romania), the Baltic republics, the former Yugoslavia republics, Russia and Ukraine

This major comparative study examines the challenges faced by the countries of postcommunist Central and Eastern Europe in securing democratic control of their armed forces and establishing a civilian control of defense policy. The book explores how the interaction of the common challenges of postcommunism and the diverse circumstances of individual countries shape civil-military relations in this changing region. Detailed country case studies written by leading experts compare the experiences of Poland, Romania, the Baltic republics, the former Yugoslav republics, Russia, and Ukraine.

After the collapse of communism in 1989 and the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe faced the enormous challenge of making the transition from communism to an unknown future, with little or no experience of democracy, market economics or stable relations with their neighbours to build on.