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. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Foreword......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Notes on Contributors......Page 12 1 Introduction: the Challenge of Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Postcommunist Europe......Page 14 Part I Central Europe......Page 32 2 Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Postcommunist Poland: the Interplay of History, Political Society and Institutional Reform......Page 34 3 Democratic Control of Armed Forces in the Czech Republic: a Journey from Social Isolation......Page 57 4 Civil–Military Relations in Hungary: No Big Deal......Page 77 Part II The Baltic States......Page 102 5 Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Latvia......Page 104 6 The Challenges of Civil–Military Relations and Democratic Control of Armed Forces: the Case of Lithuania......Page 121 Part III South Eastern Europe......Page 140 7 Defence Planning in Emerging Democracies: the Case of Romania......Page 142 8 The Changing Nature of Civil–Military Relations in Post-Totalitarian Bulgaria......Page 153 9 Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Slovenia......Page 172 10 ‘Like Drunken Geese in the Fog’: Developing Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Croatia......Page 187 11 The European Exception: Civil–Military Relations in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)......Page 207 Part IV The Former Soviet Union......Page 226 12 The Evolution of Civil–Military Relations in Russia......Page 228 13 The Development of Civil–Military Relations in Post-Soviet Ukraine......Page 246 Part V Conclusion......Page 262 14 Soldiers, Politics and Defence in Postcommunist Europe......Page 264 Index......Page 278 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.