Cold war
Did the end of the Cold War make Europe more or less secure?
In the late 1940’s Europe was divided into two separate blocs. The Cold War for Europe was illustrated by the existence of two opposed camps across a divided Germany. The end of the Cold War in 1989 and the reunification of Germany in 1990 brought about a transformation in the European security environment unrecognisable from that which had existed five years earlier. The system of two militarized blocs ceased to function. The Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO) collapsed in 1991, with the Soviet Union breaking up into individual and sometimes conflicting states, whilst the states of Eastern Europe attempted to come to terms with independence after forty years of Soviet hegemony. The WTO’s counterpart North the Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sought to expand within Europe and further a field. 1
Andrew Dorman and Adrian Treacher in European Security have noted that ‘the Cold War environment has presented politicians, civil servants and military leaders with a relatively simple situation in which to operate with accepted norms and rules of behaviour’.2 The superpowers dominated their respective alliances with their military and economic superiority within their respective blocs, whilst the nuclear standoff ensured that neither bloc would use military force against the other. The end of the Cold War changed all this. Treacher notes that ‘Problems such as ethnic conflict and rising nationalism posed considerable problems for the future security environment of Europe, whilst the requirement for reconstruction and readjustment presented a challenge’, particularly with the reunification of Germany, and the integration into Europe from the former Communist states. US presence in Europe, end of nuclear standoff and European relations with the former Soviet Union also created new security challenges and possible security dilemmas at the end of the Cold War. 3
During the Cold War, the assessment on
In the late 1940’s Europe was divided into two separate blocs. The Cold War for Europe was illustrated by the existence of two opposed camps across a divided Germany. The end of the Cold War in 1989 and the reunification of Germany in 1990 brought about a transformation in the European security environment unrecognisable from that which had existed five years earlier. The system of two militarized blocs ceased to function. The Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO) collapsed in 1991, with the Soviet Union breaking up into individual and sometimes conflicting states, whilst the states of Eastern Europe attempted to come to terms with independence after forty years of Soviet hegemony. The WTO’s counterpart North the Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sought to expand within Europe and further a field. 1
Andrew Dorman and Adrian Treacher in European Security have noted that ‘the Cold War environment has presented politicians, civil servants and military leaders with a relatively simple situation in which to operate with accepted norms and rules of behaviour’.2 The superpowers dominated their respective alliances with their military and economic superiority within their respective blocs, whilst the nuclear standoff ensured that neither bloc would use military force against the other. The end of the Cold War changed all this. Treacher notes that ‘Problems such as ethnic conflict and rising nationalism posed considerable problems for the future security environment of Europe, whilst the requirement for reconstruction and readjustment presented a challenge’, particularly with the reunification of Germany, and the integration into Europe from the former Communist states. US presence in Europe, end of nuclear standoff and European relations with the former Soviet Union also created new security challenges and possible security dilemmas at the end of the Cold War. 3
During the Cold War, the assessment on
Bibliography: Books Buzan Barry. The European security order recast: scenarios for the post-Cold War era. London : Pinter, 1990. 12 Dorman Andrew M. and Adrian Treacher European security : an introduction to security issues in post-Cold War Europe. Aldershot, England ; Brookfield, Vt. : Dartmouth, 1995. 1-86 Journal articles Cimbala Stephen J. “Security in Europe after the Cold War Part 1” European Security 2 (2) 1993, 6 D 'Anieri Paul and Bryan Schmiedeler “European security after the cold war: The policy of insulationism” European Security 2 (3) 1993, 335-357 Mearsheimer John J. “Back to the Future: Instability in Europe after the Cold War” International Security 15 (1) 1990, 4-49