DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

The Lead Story
Fi rst Expe ri e nces of Fu ly-Fle dged
Me mbe rship
NA TO and
the Re pu blic of Cro a tia
20
By: Vlatko Cvrtila
The me mbe rship be ne fi ts for
the Re pu blic of Cro atia are
vi ewed in fo ur ca te go ri es:
fi rstly, be ne fi ts co nne cted to
tra nsfo rma ti on of se cu ri ty
se ctor; se co ndly, ove ra ll
insti tu ti onal ada pta ti ons,
that is, stre ngthe ni ng of
“insti tu ti onal ope ra bi li ty”;
thi rdly, be ne fi ts from
acti vi ti es in glo bal area;
fo urthly, be ne fi ts from
enco ura gi ng de ve lo pme nt
of new re gi onal dyna mi cs.
The author is the Dean of the
Faculty of Political Sciences at the
University of Zagreb, Croatia
In Ja nu ary 1992, when asked whe ther NA TO wo uld be
abo li shed now that the Co ld War ri val was go ne, Ma nfred
Wörner, Se cre ta ry-Ge ne ral of UN answe red: “The orga -
ni za ti on of co lle cti ve se cu ri ty ca nnot be ba sed so le ly on
po li ti cal de ma nds and le gal pro ce du re. It mu st be ba sed
on co mmon va lu es, pra cti ce of ve ry clo se co-ope ra ti on,
and abo ve all, vi si ble ca pa ci ti es for ensu ri ng the se cu ri ty
to its me mbe rs even in the mo st di ffi cu lt co ndi ti ons. The
only system of co lle cti ve se cu ri ty in Eu ro pe to day is NA -
TO, and it wi ll re ma in in the fu tu re.” 1 NA TO orga ni za ti -
on is a pro du ct of the Co ld War, i.e. of the ge ostra te gic
si tu ati on after the Se co nd Wo rld War, and it was cre ated
as an answer of We ste rn de mo cra tic sta tes to a ri si ng
thre at from Ea ste rn Eu ro pe. The co nce rn of We ste rn sta -
tes was not only re fle cted in a mi li ta ry thre at: they also
saw a gre at da nger to the de mo cra tic system co mi ng from
the USSR , be ca use co mmu ni sm re pre se nted a to ta li ta ri -
an system that was co ntra ry to de mo cra tic va lu es. The di -
sso lu ti on of that system and of the “Ea ste rn” thre at led
NA TO to vi cto ry in Co ld War. That vi cto ry also me ant a
ne ce ssa ry tra nsfo rma ti on and ada pta ti on to new co ndi ti -
ons. The We ste rn insti tu ti ons ve ry so on we re fa ced wi th
the “vi cto ry cri sis”. Du ri ng it, the insti tu ti ons and me cha -
ni sms of na ti onal and inte rna ti onal se cu ri ty that we re fo -
rmed in the Co ld War pe ri od fa iled in ce rta in issu es
be ca use they we re unfit and unsu ita ble to new cha lle nges.
Be si des the insti tu ti ons of na ti onal and inte rna ti onal se -
cu ri ty, the re are other insti tu ti ons of We ste rn so ci ety that
we nt or are sti ll go ing thro ugh the “vi cto ry cri sis”. Tho -
se are: the free ma rket, we lfa re sta te, mu lti pa rty de mo -
cra cy, na ti onal so ve re ignty and bu re au cra cy of na ti onal
se cu ri ty. Insti tu ti ons of indu stri al so ci ety ca nnot fu lly re -
spo nd to the da nge rs that thre aten the mo de rn wo rld. A
”vi cto ry cri sis” is espe ci ally ma ni fe sted in the na ti onal se -
cu ri ty se ctor, be ca use the insti tu ti ons in that area ha ve to
ma ke a big step in order to sa ti sfy new co ndi ti ons. Be si -
des, the mo de rn wo rld is ma rked by ma ny “bo ome ra ng”
effe cts that are the ou tco mes of the acti vi ti es of insti tu ti -
ons which sho uld ta ke ca re of na ti onal se cu ri ty, but inste -
ad enda nger it in the fi eld of fre edom and hu man ri ghts.
In the lo ng run, We ste rn de mo cra tic so ci eti es mi ght ha ve
si gni fi ca nt co nse qu ences on the ir inte rnal de mo cra cy and
insti tu ti on fu ncti oni ng if the tre nd of incre asi ng the po wer