NATO and the Czech and Slovak Republics: A Comparative Study in Civil-Military Relations

by Jeffrey Simon

Overview

Ever since the revolutions of 1989-1990, most Central and Eastern European states have been striving to adhere to Euro-Atlantic institutions-NATO and the European Union. Written by an 'inside' participant/observer, NATO and the Czech and Slovak Republics: A Comparative Study in Civil-Military Relations charts the successes, shortcomings, and continuing challenges faced by the Czech Republic in its quest to receive an invitation to join the NATO alliance in July 1997, in its prepartion for accession in March 1999, and during its first four years as a NATO ally, and by Slovakia in its quest to receive an invitation in November 2002. In addition Jeffrey Simon provides a conceptual framework of civil-military relations that draws upon the lessons of post-Communist transition in the entire Central and East European region. The result is a comprehensive and original study of civil-military relations in two of the most important and interesting transition states of the post-Soviet era.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742529038
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/19/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	5.92(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.72(d)

About the Author

Jeffrey Simon is senior fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Part I: Czechoslovakia: From Unity to Federation and Divorce Chapter 2 Revolution and Democratic Control of the Military Chapter 3 Hastily Concluded Defense Reform Chapter 4 Czechoslovakia's Velvet Divorce Part 5 Part II: Czech Republic: Advancing toward Democracy Chapter 6 Establishing the Legal Basis for Democratic Oversight Chapter 7 A New Defense Minister, Vilem Holan Chapter 8 1996 Parliamentary Elections, Miloslav Vyborny Takes Charge Chapter 9 Klaus's Demise and the Rise of Josef Tosovsky Chapter 10 June 1998 Parliamentary Elections Chapter 11 Vetchy's Demise and Tvrdik's Accession Chapter 12 2002 Elections Return Social Democrats and Tvrdik Chapter 13 Conclusion-Czech Republic Part 14 Part III: Slovakia: Overcoming Instability and Special Problems Chapter 15 The First Meciar Government (January 1993-March 1994) Chapter 16 The Moravcik Government (March-December 1994) Chapter 17 Meciar's Return (December 1994-November 1998) Chapter 18 A Political Year-1998 Chapter 19 The Mikulas Dzurinda Government (October 1998) Chapter 20 Jozef Stank's Defense Reform Chapter 21 Septemeber 2002 Parliamentary Elections Chapter 22 Conclusion-Slovak Republic Part 23 Part IV: Coming Full Circle: Civil-Military Relations Chapter 24 NATO and Civil-Military Relations Chapter 25 Coming Full Circle

Editorial Reviews

The post-Cold War period—from the collapse of communist regimes in November 1989 to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001—has passed so quickly; especially for those people living in the countries in the process of transformation, who did not have time to realize that they have passed through historical changes. We, who took an active part in this process of transformation, now have the opportunity to look back and assess what we have passed through, and can appreciate the importance of Jeffrey Simon's NATO and the Czech and Slovak Republics: A Comparative Study in Civil-Military Relations. There is no study that compares with this work.

Ambassador Jaromír Novotny

NATO and the Czech and Slovak Republics is strongly recommended for graduate students and professionals in strategic studies and comparative politics.

Perspectives On Political Science

For a younger generation of Czechs and Slovaks today at North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in Brussels or deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, how first Czechoslovakia and then the Czech and Slovak Republics came to grips in the 1900s with the civil-military experience of the years 1918, 1938, 1948, and 1968 represents an issue of grand strategic necessity bound up with the accession to the Washington Treaty. In the past decade this legacy collided with the ups and downs of Czech and especially Slovak domestic politics and might have easily have scotched the bid by the two central European republics to join NATO, returning them to an uncertain existence in a new Zwischeneuropa….How policymakers in Prague and Bratislava finally cheated such fate and made their way to Brussels-Evere forms the subject of Jeffrey Simons excellent account of security sector reform between the Elbe and the Danube from the close of the 1980s to the eve of the Slovak accession to NATO in 2004.
— Donald Abenheim, Naval Postgraduate School

Slavic Review

Careful and informative. Simon provides a detailed chronology of defense reforms since communism's collapse.

Naval War College Review

The post-Cold War period—from the collapse of communist regimes in November 1989 to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001—has passed so quickly; especially for those people living in the countries in the process of transformation, who did not have time to realize that they have passed through historical changes. We, who took an active part in this process of transformation, now have the opportunity to look back and assess what we have passed through, and can appreciate the importance of Jeffrey Simon's NATO and the Czech and Slovak Republics: A Comparative Study in Civil-Military Relations. There is no study that compares with this work.

Ambassador Jaromír Novotny

Jeffrey Simon is unrivaled in his knowledge of new and candidate NATO member states in Eastern Europe. The latest of his first-rate scholarship on NATO's enlargement, this volume on the Czech and Slovak Republics provides a remarkably textured examination of two cases in this historic process.

Lieutenant General (ret.) William E. Odom

This book could not be more timely. Jeffrey Simon, with lucidity and insight, enlightens us on the seismic changes now occurring in the European security framework. The particulars of the Czech and Slovak cases inform the reader on the overall significance of the NATO expansion and what it means for the world. This is essential reading for both those who seek to understand contemporary Europe as well as those concerned with civil-military relations.

Charles Moskos

NATO and the Czech and Slovak Republics is strongly recommended for graduate students and professionals in strategic studies and comparative politics.

Perspectives on Political Science

For a younger generation of Czechs and Slovaks today at North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in Brussels or deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, how first Czechoslovakia and then the Czech and Slovak Republics came to grips in the 1900s with the civil-military experience of the years 1918, 1938, 1948, and 1968 represents an issue of grand strategic necessity bound up with the accession to the Washington Treaty. In the past decade this legacy collided with the ups and downs of Czech and especially Slovak domestic politics and might have easily have scotched the bid by the two central European republics to join NATO, returning them to an uncertain existence in a new Zwischeneuropa….How policymakers in Prague and Bratislava finally cheated such fate and made their way to Brussels-Evere forms the subject of Jeffrey Simons excellent account of security sector reform between the Elbe and the Danube from the close of the 1980s to the eve of the Slovak accession to NATO in 2004.

Slavic Review - Donald Abenheim

The transformation of Slovak society and integration into NATO and the EU was an exciting period for me. During my tenure, the defense ministry created the principal strategic documents for the reform of the Slovak Armed Forces and developed concrete steps to achieve NATO interoperability. Jeffrey Simon's excellent book is a concise, impartial, and balanced effort describing Slovakia's complicated, arduous, and painful defense transformation.

Ambassador Jozef Stank

No author is better qualified, based on his detailed research and his experience, to tell the story of the emerging post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe than Jeff Simon.

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