DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

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100 shi ps,” the ESDP is sti ll far away from such stra te -
gic de ve lo pme nt.
The Li sbon Tre aty co nsti tu ted the Eu ro pe an de fe nse
age ncy wi th the ge ne ral idea of pro mo ti ng EU ope ra -
ti onal ca pa ci ti es in the de fe nse fi eld, but the re is, aga -
in, the impre ssi on that it is all abo ut fo llo wi ng
bu re au cra tic di re cti ves, and not abo ut a re al inte nti on
to cre ate a Eu ro pe an army. Altho ugh the idea of the
Eu ro pe an armed fo rces appe ars on the ho ri zon as a
lo gi cal co nse qu ence of the co nstru cti on of a co mpre -
he nsi ve insti tu ti onal EU lo gos, its lo ng-te rm la te ness or
even its co nsi gnme nt in a du sty dra wer of hi sto ri cal re -
du nda ncy se em as a mo re re ali stic fu tu re.
What are the re aso ns for this de lay? In addi ti on to eco -
no mic fa cto rs, one sho uld pay atte nti on to two addi ti -
onal se ts of re aso ns. One is re la ted to the la ck of EU ’s
wi lli ngness to inve st in mi li ta ry stru ctu res, as they are
incre asi ngly less re le va nt from the pe rspe cti ve of the
EU ’s hi sto ri cal de ve lo pme nt. The se co nd one co mes
out of the be li ef that Eu ro pe, after the pa ci fi ca ti on pro -
cess which has be en ga the ri ng mo me ntum for a whi le,
sho uld not get mi li ta ri zed aga in. Ho we ver, it is impo -
rta nt to know whe ther the re je cti on of re-mi li ta ri za ti -
on (re qu ested by the US in order to re co gni ze Eu ro pe
as a ge opo li ti cal pa rtner) is ca used by the pro gre ssi ng
pe ace ide olo gy wi thin the EU (which is co mme nda ble)
or if the re je cti on of the Eu ro pe an su pra na ti onal mi li -
ta ri za ti on is ca used by co nse rva ti ve be li efs that mi li ta -
ry po te nti al intri nsi ca lly and qu inte sse nti ally fi ts na ti onal
sta tes, and the fo rmal cre ati on of the Eu ro pe an se cu ri -
ty and de fe nse stru ctu res is only the fu lfi llme nt of insti -
tu ti onal orde rs re qu ired and asked by the Bru sse ls
bu re au cra tic nu cle us’ no rma ti ve lo gic. Empha si zi ng the -
se di le mmas is clo se ly re la ted to the cri sis ma na ge me -
nt mi ssi ons in So uthe ast Eu ro pe, and I am, as it can be
se en from this arti cle, hi ghly ske pti cal abo ut them.
So, that is how the Eu ro pe an Uni on lo oks when it co -
mes to se cu ri ty and de fe nse: its inse cu ri ty stre ngthe ns
the po te nti al of pro vi nci al Ba lkan po li ci es that are do -
ing fi ne only when they ne ed to pro du ce the irra ti onal
spi ral of wi ld se pa ra ti sm and una cce pta ble uni ta ri sm.
Ho we ver, this is a po si ti on which in fa ct su its eve rybo -
dy. The Eu ro pe an Uni on wi ll stay in the Ba lka ns for an
unde te rmi ned pe ri od of ti me, and the Ba lka ns, altho -
ugh it be lo ngs to the “mo ral uni ve rse of the Eu ro pe an
ci vi li za ti on,” wi ll re ma in ou tsi de the EU fra me wo rk.
Wi thin exi sti ng Eu ro pe an stra te gi es, the We ste rn Ba -
lka ns wi ll ke ep jo ini ng the EU, wi tho ut ne ver fu lly be -
co mi ng me mbe rs. It wo uld not be that impo rta nt if
the co untri es in the re gi on ma na ge to bu ild stro ng eco -
no mic and cu ltu ral bo nds in the me anti me: is it po ssi -
ble to de ve lop them wi thin a ro tten se cu ri ty age nda?
Obvi ou sly not, and that is why this arti cle stro ngly ple -
ads for a new appro ach to se cu ri ty, one in which NA -
TO wo uld play a do mi na nt ro le, until a po ssi ble
di sso lu ti on of the impe ri ali stic Pax Ame ri ca na.
The No rth Atla ntic Alli ance, fi rst and fo re mo st, owes
a de bt to the so uthe ast-Eu ro pe an co untri es, mo re pre -
ci se ly to the co untri es of fo rmer Yu go sla via, which, by
pro du ci ng vi ole nce, ma de NA TO ’s hi sto ric exi ste nce
po ssi ble. Wi thin the fra me wo rk of po st Co ld War ge -
opo li ti cs, the le adi ng se cu ri ty-po li ti cal alli ance of the
mo de rn wo rld owes, in a way, to Bo snia and other co -
untri es in the re gi on. Why?
The war in Bo snia and the Yu go slav wa rs in ge ne ral re -
du ced the co nfu si on cre ated in NA TO ’s mi li ta ry-po li -
ti cal stru ctu res by the fa ll of the So vi et ide olo gi cal and
mi li ta ry blo ck. Wi tho ut the ene my, the Wa rsaw pa ct,
which was the me ani ng and pu rpo se of its exi ste nce,
NA TO was fa ced wi th a Ha mlet-style di le mma: to be
or not to be. Vla di mir Pe trov, an acqu ai nta nce of NA -
TO fo undi ng fa ther De an Ache son, put it pe rfe ctly in
a 1997 arti cle in the Wa shi ngton Po st: NA TO was cre -
ated to re ta in So vi et enla rge me nt. It acco mpli shed its mi -
ssi on. Sho uld it be ta sked now to ma ke the wo rld mo re
se cu re for de mo cra cy? The re is one unspo ken re ason to
pre se rve NA TO – the fe ar that our influ ence wi ll di mi ni sh,
once when Eu ro pe ma kes pro gress to wa rds inte gra ti on.
The European currency will challenge almighty dollar. Growing
NATO bureaucracy could disappear unless some new
mi ssi on bre aths new li fe into the insti tu ti on. It is the ri sk
that we ha ve to acce pt.
Fo rmer NA TO Se cre ta ry Ge ne ral Lo rd Ro be rtson unde
rsto od this and si mi lar me ssa ges pe rfe ctly. Ta ki ng
over his po si ti on in the alli ance, he sa id ope nly, wi tho -
ut be ati ng aro und the bu sh, that NA TO wi ll tra nsfo rm
in acco rda nce wi th cha lle nges of this era or it wi ll di sa -
ppe ar from the hi sto ri cal are na. It was not an ea sy ta -
sk, be ca use the ri sks eme rgi ng from the di sso lu ti on of
the So vi et empi re (pro li fe ra ti on, mi gra ti ons, tra ffi cki -
ng, inte rsta te te nsi ons amo ng fo rmer So vi et re pu bli cs,
na ti ona li sm, se ce ssi oni sm, the Ca uca si an ethnic pot...)
po sed a se ri ous cha lle nge after the Ea ste rn Blo ck had
be en po si ti oni ng itse lf as an uni ta ry mi li ta ry and ide -
olo gi cal cha lle nge for fo ur de ca des. The na tu re of the -
se ri sks was di ffe re nt from the tra nspa re nt cla ri ty of
da nger ra di ated by the Wa rsaw pa ct as a cla ssi cal mi -
li ta ry-po li ti cal alli ance.