Soldiers and Societies in Postcommunist Europe

Soldiers and Societies in Postcommunist Europe examines the development of military-society relations in central and eastern Europe since the collapse of communism. Across the region, armed forces' relationships with their societies have undergone tremendous change during this period. This has resulted from the changed strategic environment in Europe, declining popular threat perceptions and major depoliticization and restructuring of the armed forces themselves. The traditional bases for legitimacy in societies for armed forces have often declined, to be replaced with new ones focused around new military roles. The detailed country case studies in this volume, written by leading experts to a common analytical framework, compare the experiences of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Yugoslavia and Ukraine. The book - the third in a series of four volumes on different aspects of civil-military relations in postcommunist Europe - explores how the interaction of the common challenges of postcommunism and the diverse circumstances of individual countries are shaping patterns of military-society relations in this changing region.