DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

26
oppo rtu ni ty to pa rti ci pa te in cre ati ng appro aches and po -
li ci es to wa rds the re gi on, that is, it assu me a fu ncti on
which can he lp stre ngthe ni ng Eu ro-Atla ntic pro ce sses,
the re by cre ati ng a fa vo ra ble envi ro nme nt which wi ll ha -
ve a po si ti ve impa ct on the de ve lo pme nt of the Re pu blic
of Cro atia as we ll. For exa mple, the Re pu blic of Cro atia
is in the gro up of NA TO me mbe rs co untri es which advo -
ca tes the acce ssi on of Bo snia-He rze go vi na to MAP.
Ha vi ng jo ined NA TO, the Re pu blic of Cro atia also cha -
nged its ge opo li ti cal po si ti on in the area: our ge opo li ti cal
de sti ny was ma rked by the fu ncti on of this area as a bu -
ffer, a bo rder which was the pla ce of co nfli ct be twe en the
Otto man Empi re and Ce ntral Eu ro pe an empi res. Our
pre se nt ge ogra phi cal area was then di vi ded be twe en di -
ffe re nt cre ati ons du ri ng the pe ri od of de ve lo pme nt of Eu -
ro pe an na ti onal mo ve me nts, and la ter atte mpts we re
aga in thwa rted due to va ri ous inte rna ti onal and inte rnal
co ndi ti ons, which li mi ted the no rmal ge ne sis of po li ti cal
co mmu ni ti es in the re gi on. Only the inde pe nde nce of the
Re pu blic of Cro atia ena bled the new co ndi ti ons thro ugh
which its area sta rted to be va lu ed in a di ffe re nt way. To -
day it no lo nger has the “bu ffer“ fu ncti on, but the new
fu ncti on of “ga te way“. 14 That me ans that the Re pu blic of
Cro atia has a new ro le as an ini ti ator of Eu ro pe an inte -
gra ti on pro ce sses and dyna mi cs, di re cti ng the re gi on to -
wa rds NA TO and the Eu ro pe an Uni on. This new ro le wi ll
re su lt in stre ngthe ni ng fo re ign po li cy acti vi ti es to wa rds
each indi vi du al co untry, as we ll as all fo rms of co mmon
acti vi ti es of the co untri es in the re gi on. It se ems that now
it is ide al ti me for esta bli shi ng new ne two rks of co ope ra -
ti on, be ca use the su ccess of Cro atia is a go od ori enta ti on
for other ne ighbo ri ng co untri es as we ll.
* * *
It is re la ti ve ly se ldom that sma ll co untri es ha ve a fa vo ra -
ble inte rna ti onal co nju nctu re in which they can achi eve
the ir na ti onal inte re sts wi th mi ni mal obstru cti on. The
Re pu blic of Cro atia is in such a si tu ati on to day, and all
the other co untri es from the fo rmer SFRY, which opt
for Eu ro pe ani za ti on of the ir po li ci es and syste ms and for
me mbe rship in NA TO and Eu ro pe an Uni on, wi ll be in it
as we ll. On a ge ne ral le vel, we can co nclu de that me -
mbe rship be ne fi ts can be di vi ded into fo ur gro ups: fi rst,
the be ne fi ts re la ted to tra nsfo rma ti on of se cu ri ty se ctor;
se co nd, to tal insti tu ti onal adju stme nts, that is, stre ngthe -
ni ng of “insti tu ti onal inte ro pe ra bi li ty”; thi rd, the be ne fi -
ts from acti on in the glo bal spa ce; fo urth, the be ne fi ts
from enco ura gi ng the de ve lo pme nt of new re gi onal
dyna mi cs. Of co urse, me mbe rship do es not me an hi di -
ng under the umbre lla, but pe rma ne nt acti vi ti es and re -
spo nsi bi li ti es for inte rna ti onal pe ace and sta bi li ty. The inte
rna ti onal re spo nsi bi li ty has now incre ased for the Re -
pu blic of Cro atia, wi th a spe ci al empha sis on its
re spo nsi bi li ty to the re gi on. The stre ngthe ni ng of Eu ro-
Atla ntic pe rspe cti ves in the re gi on and enco ura gi ng co -
ope ra ti on on all le ve ls and in all aspe cts bri ngs a new
dyna mi cs and cre ates fa vo ra ble envi ro nme nt for its fu -
rther de ve lo pme nt. Only in such a co nfli ct-free envi ro -
nme nt, can the Re pu blic of Cro atia, to ge ther wi th other
co untri es, co unt on eco no mic and po li ti cal pro spe ri ty.
The adva nta ges of the pre se nt ge opo li ti cal po si ti on of
the Re pu blic of Cro atia wi ll not be re ali zed unless it de -
fi nes acti ve su ppo rt po li ci es for its ne ighbo ri ng co untri -
es in the pro ce sses of Eu ro pe an inte gra ti on. n
NO TES:
1
R. S. Jordan, “NATOs Structural Changes for the 1990’s“, p. 51,
in: S. V. Papacosma, M. A. Heiss,, (eds.), NATO in the Post-Cold War
Era: Does It Have a Future? (London: Macmillan, 1995).
2
More about that in Richard Leone, Greg Anrig, Liberty Under Attack:
The War On Our Freedoms In An Age Of Terror, (New York:
Public Affairs, 2007).
3
Christopher Donnelly, „Security in the 21st Century: New Challenges
and New Responses“, in: ^ehuli}, Lidija (ed.), NATO and
New International Relations, (Zagreb: Atlantic Council of Croatia
and Political Culture, 2004), pp. 24-37.
4
Robert Bari}, „NATO, EU i budu}nost transatlantske obrambene
kooperacije“, in: Lidija ^ehuli} (eds.), NATO i novi me|unarodni
odnosi, (Zagreb: Politi~ka kultura, 2004), p. 134.
5
Radovan Pavi}, „Novi NATO na osnovici dokumenata“, Politi~ka
misao, Vol. 35, no. 1, 1998, p. 93.
6
The profits and benefits listed here come from various sources,
including: Ronald D. Asmus, “Double Enlargement: Redefining the
Atlantic Partnership after the Cold War,” in David C. Gompert
and F. Stephen Larrabee (eds.), America and Europe: A Partnership
for a New Era (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 1997;
Ronald D. Asmus, Richard L. Kugler, and F. Stephen Larrabee,
“NATO Expan sion: The Next Steps”, Survival, Vol. 37, 1995, 7-33;
Ronald D. Asmus, Richard L. Kugler, and F. Stephen Larrabee,
“What Will NATO Enlargement Cost?”, Survival, 38, 5-26, 1996;
Congressional Budget Office (CBO), “The Costs of Expanding the
NATO Al liance”, CBO Papers, CBO, Washington, DC., 1996.
7
John A. Conybeare, James C. Murdoch, and Todd Sandler, “Alternative
Collective-Goods Models of Military Alliances: Theory
and Empirics”, Economic Inquiry, 32, 1994, pp. 525-542.
8
Todd Sandler and Keith Hartley, The Political Economy of NATO,
(Cambridge University Press, 1999).
9
Ronald D. Asmus, Richard L. Kugler, and F. Stephen Larrabee,
“What Will NATO Enlargement Cost?”, Survival, 38, 5-26, 1996.
10
More in: Vlatko Cvrtila, NATO i Republika Hrvatska, (Zagreb: CPI,
2004).
11
Radovan Vukadinovi}, Lidija ^ehuli}, Drago Lovri}, NATO u
me|unarodnim odnosima, (Zagreb: FPZ, 2006).
12
More in: Radovan Vukadinovi}, Lidija ^ehuli}, Drago Lovri}, NATO
u me|unarodnim odnosima, (Zagreb: FPZ, 2006).
13
More in: Radovan Vukadinovi}, Lidija ^ehuli} Vukadinovi}, Davor
Bo`inovi}, NATO – euroatlantska integracija, (Zagreb: Topical, 2007).
14
Vlatko Cvrtila, „Republika Hrvatska kao ’gateway’ prema jugoisto~noj
Europi“, Politi~ka misao, Vol. 37, br. 1, 2000, pp. 161-172.