DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

of na ti onal se cu ri ty insti tu ti ons in the na me of fi ght aga -
inst te rro ri sm co nti nu es. 2 In addi ti on to all the abo ve, NA -
TO met wi th co mple te ly new cha lle nges in the
inte rna ti onal spa ce that led to di ffe re nt co nsti tu ti on of
inte rna ti onal order, to ra pid pro gress in mo de rn te chno -
lo gy area, and to cha nges in the se cu ri ty and de fe nse pa -
ra di gms that led to wa rds cha nges of the orga ni za ti on and
use of armed fo rces of We ste rn so ci eti es. 3
Exce pt the de scri bed inte rnal cri ses, on its fo re ign age nda
NA TO was su ppo sed to ove rta ke the re spo nsi bi li ty for
sta bi li ty and se cu ri ty in Eu ro pe. Altho ugh a re al war did
not ha ppen, one pa rt of Eu ro pe se emed li ke ju st out of a
war: the new de mo cra tic go ve rnme nts had we ak po li ti -
cal stru ctu res, a bad eco no my, the re was a su dden re du -
cti on of mi li ta ry arse na ls, de mo bi li za ti on, de mi li ta ri za ti on,
po te nti al inte rnal ethnic co nfli cts, etc. To avo id the ri se of
new insta bi li ti es, NA TO to ok on ano ther re spo nsi bi li ty:
fi rst, sta bi li zi ng Ce ntral and Ea st Eu ro pe thro ugh su ppo rt
to new, de mo cra tic go ve rnme nts; and se co nd, sta bi li zi ng
the re gi on of ex-Yu go sla via and re pa iri ng the co nse qu -
ences of the di sso lu ti on of the so ci ali st fe de ra ti on. In bo -
th ca ses NA TO had pro ble ms in cho osi ng the me cha ni sms
to achi eve its go als, all be ca use of ce rta in re stri cti ons that
we re the re be ca use of the exte nded fu ncti oni ng of its
insti tu ti ons and Co ld War lo gic.
* * *
One of the me cha ni sms wi th which NA TO achi eved its go -
al of lo ng-te rm sta bi li za ti on of Eu ro pe was the fu ll me mbe -
rship in the orga ni za ti on for 12 co untri es from the fo rmer
so ci ali st-co mmu ni st bloc. NA TO me mbe rship re qu ires mo -
re than a pla in te chni cal re arra nge me nt of a de fe nse system
and all of its me cha ni sms that are used for pro te cti on
of so ve re ignty and te rri to ri al inte gri ty of a co untry: me -
mbe rship also me ans a cha nge of thi nki ng abo ut the
armed fo rces, that is, ada pta ti on of the ir mi ssi ons to new
de mo cra tic co ndi ti ons and new thre ats and da nge rs, but
also ada pta ti on of the enti re po li ti cal system and so ci ety
to new ci rcu msta nces of the acti vi ti es insi de the Alli ance.
New de mo cra ci es ne ed armed fo rces which wi ll be ca pa -
ble of acti ng in a de mo cra tic envi ro nme nt, which wi ll co -
ntri bu te to de ve lo pme nt of a de mo cra tic co mmu ni ty, but
also armed fo rces which wi ll be ca pa ble of ta ki ng all the
obli ga ti ons in the sphe re of na ti onal se cu ri ty and de fe nse,
as we ll as all inte rna ti onal obli ga ti ons wi th the pu rpo se of
esta bli shi ng a sa fe and sta bi le envi ro nme nt. All that to ge -
ther me ans that na ti onal sta tes, which enter the pro je cts
of de mo cra tic, se cu ri ty and de fe nse tra nsi ti on, ha ve to
inve st si gni fi ca nt ene rgy in sha pi ng new se cu ri ty and de fe -
nse stru ctu res, as we ll as si gni fi ca nt fi na nci al me ans. In new
de mo cra ci es, that is, in tra nsi ti onal sta tes, this tra nsla tes
into ve ry co mplex re qu ests for tra nsfo rma ti on, and not
only of a te chni cal na tu re.
We ste rn de mo cra tic se cu ri ty do ctri nes had a key impa ct
on sha pi ng the tra nsfo rma ti on mo de ls of se cu ri ty and de -
fe nse syste ms of tra nsi ti onal sta tes, as we ll as de ve lo pme -
nt of tra ns-Atla ntic pa rtne rship in the de fe nse se ctor. That
was espe ci ally re fle cted in the co nti nu ed atte mpts of cre -
ati ng co mpa ti bi li ty be twe en the two key Eu ro pe an se cu ri -
ty pla ye rs: NA TO and EU. For exa mple, Ro be rt Ba ri }
thi nks that one of the re su lts of the co ope ra ti on be twe en
NA TO and EU sho uld be the re du cti on of di vi si ons be twe -
en “old” and “new” Eu ro pe, as we ll as the “co nstru cti on
of the syste ms of co ope ra ti ve se cu ri ty which co uld be a
se ed for bro ader tra ns-Atla ntic se cu ri ty co mmu ni ty...“ 4
NA TO had the stro nge st influ ence on the ada pta ti on of
“new” Eu ro pe, de vo ti ng mo st of its acti vi ti es in the 1990s
to pro vi di ng assi sta nce in de fe nse system tra nsfo rma ti on
of fo rmer so ci ali st sta tes. The fi nal go al of the tra nsfo -
rma ti on is the di vi si on of re spo nsi bi li ti es for inte rna ti onal
se cu ri ty amo ngst a la rger nu mber of the co untri es, that
is, in jo ini ng the ir orga ni za ti on and the re by spre adi ng the
spa ce of stra te gic sta bi li ty. In that co nte xt, “the pro cess
of NA TO expa nsi on, in addi ti on to its stra te gic aspe cts,
also has te rri to ri al co nne cti on: the aspi ra ti ons are di re -
cted to the Ea st and the So uthe ast.“ 5 Alre ady in the mid-
1990, NA TO de fi ned the pro gram of its fu rther acti vi ti es
by acce pti ng the Lo ndon De cla ra ti on (6 Ju ly 1990). The
do cu me nt hi ghli ghts that se cu ri ty and sta bi li ty sho uld not
only be obse rved in the li ght of mi li ta ry arse na ls and co -
mpo ne nts, but the Alli ance ’s go al sho uld be achi evi ng se -
cu ri ty wi th the aid of po li ti cal me ans for the be ne fit of a
bro ader co mmu ni ty, and not only the Alli ance me mbe -
rs. The impo rta nce of the Lo ndon De cla ra ti on li es in the
fa ct that it pro cla imed the ne ed for co ope ra ti on wi th fo -
rmer ide olo gi cal ene mi es: the Wa rsaw Pa ct me mbe rs. It
inclu des the pro po sal on stre ngthe ni ng co ope ra ti on be -
twe en NA TO and other Ce ntral Eu ro pe an and Ea ste rn
Eu ro pe an co untri es in va ri ous fi elds of acti on, and anno -
unces the re stru ctu ri ng of the Alli ance mi li ta ry fo rces.
Du ri ng the acce ssi on of Po la nd, Czech Re pu blic and Hu -
nga ry to NA TO in 1999, then US Se cre ta ry of Sta te Ma -
de le ine Albri ght cle arly no ted that the ma in re ason of
the expa nsi on was spre adi ng sta bi li ty in Eu ro pe, and not
a su cce ssful esca pe to the We st away from the pro ble ms
the co untri es had in the ir su rro undi ngs or inte rna lly. In
order for the new co untri es to acco mpli sh the se go als,
they ha ve to be re ady to ta ke over co mpli ca ted ta sks of
inte rna ti onal se cu ri ty, that is, to cre ate ca pa ci ti es wi th
which they wi ll ta ke pa rt, to ge ther wi th other me mbe rs 21