Democracy and Russian Military Professionalism. Why Full NATO Partnership is Still a Long Way Off
Abstract
The purpose of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is to safeguard the freedom and security of its democratic membership by political and military means. The alliance is based on the common values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Indeed, NATO was created to thwart the spread of authoritarianism westward from Moscow, but the fall of communism presented the alliance with the opportunity to weigh the costs and benefits of expanding toward its former enemies. The Partnership for Peace initiative launched in January 1994 indicated a willingness to offer the security guarantees and obligations of NATO membership to the former Warsaw Pact states when each had fulfilled the requirements of accession. Although the military and political criteria for membership have been criticized for being vague and ambiguous--intentionally so, according to some people--the lion's share of assistance to partners from developed democracies has focused on issues of defense-force interoperability. Most assistance has been designed to relieve the problems of logistical and resource deficiencies, equipment obsolescence, and operational shortcomings that have hampered partnership participation. For example, the $100 million in funds allocated by the United States in fiscal year 1996 through President Bill Clinton's Warsaw Initiative to assist the partners' NATO activities will focus on these goals.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA527946
Entities
People
- Marybeth P. Ulrich
Organizations
- Air University