The Evolution of the Security Order in Europe: Importance of Multinational Forces
Abstract
The events which began in November 1989 in East Germany and rapidly moved to the very midst of the Soviet Union have radically changed the reality and perspectives of European security. The disintegration of the Warsaw Pact and the collapse of communism have transformed the Cold War period into a more uncertain, complex, and likely less stable situation. While the Balkans and the former Soviet Union face historic ethnic strife and economic disaster, Western Europe moves slowly towards greater political integration and common defense policy. The possible future architecture of European security highlights the importance of a system in which three organizations must respectively maintain (NATO), improve (WEU), and possibly acquire (CSCE) a military relevance. This relevance, in a time of diminishing threat, increasing cuts in national military budgets and need to foster greater international and regional consensus, can only be achieved with a multidimensional approach and the ability to operate militarily in concert. In this context, if a European army is currently unfeasible, every effort should nevertheless be made for the constitution of Multinational Forces with integrated commands in peacetime. Military multinationality can maintain NATO's cohesion and represents the pragmatic way to break the rhetoric of collective security and translate it into the substance of burden sharing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 25, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA249430
Entities
People
- Fabrizio Castagnetti
Organizations
- United States Army War College