Europe's Future Security Architecture: Building on the Past or a New Edifice?
Abstract
The collapse of the Berlin Wall in Nov 1989 and subsequently of Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe ended the Cold War, but also ended the predictability that East-West tensions ironically brought for some 45 years. The Warsaw Pact has been dissolved and the Soviet threat diminished, but dramatically, but a host of uncertainties have arisen. There is widespread agreement that a new European security architecture will be needed but there also seems to be almost as many visions of that architecture as there are European political leaders. This study seeks to provide a prognosis of what that security architecture will look like over the next decade. The paper provides a forecast of political, military, and economic developments in Europe through the year 2001; and historical review of Western European defense cooperation which will be the heart of the new security framework; and a prognosis of the specific new architecture, as well as recommendations for U.S. policy towards Europe. It is concluded that the new architecture will be built on existing organizations especially NATO, the European Community, and the Western European Union and it will develop over a period far longer than the time frame of this paper.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 27, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA234563
Entities
People
- Mark R. Perry
Organizations
- United States Army War College