NATO’s Anniversary – New partners in Eastern Europe 20 years after the end of confrontation with the Eastern Bloc (April 2009)

The year 2009 marks three notable anniversaries documenting the fundamental changes NATO has witnessed since its emergence: Sixty years ago, it was set up as a bulwark against Soviet communism; twenty years ago what constituted NATO’s image of the enemy disappeared with the fall of the “iron curtain,” and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact; and ten years ago it expanded to East Central Europe with the inclusion of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Much to Russian reluctance, since that time NATO’s eastward expansion just continues to roll along: In 2004 Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia joined NATO and in April 2009 Albania and Croatia will be welcomed as new members at the anniversary summit in Kehl and Strasbourg.

This April edition of Research Special offers current social science research results, from both German and English speaking regions, on the above listed topics including the domestic consequences of entering NATO. This includes literature and research references from over the past five years taken from the SOLIS and SOFIS databases as well as the newest entries in the CSA databases. The references contain bibliographic entries and short content descriptions organized by topic over seven chapters.

Go to the PDF (free of charge)