Armed Forces and Political Power in Eastern Europe: The Soviet/Communist Control System

This timely study analyzes the inner workings of the political and military control system used by the USSR and former communist regimes in Eastern Europe to rule the region until recent times. It then shows how these controls collapsed and were swept away by the revolutions in 1989. This up-to-date work describes current problems in East European security and points to future needs. This appraisal of the use of military and political power in the area is written for political scientists, military historians and analysts, for students and experts in East European studies and in international organization.

Certain coercive and socializing mechanisms define the Soviet/Communist control system which was the key to the effectiveness of the Warsaw Treaty Organization and to the reliability of East European armed forces. The history covers the period from the end of World War II to the present. The work describes the disintegration of the system of controls during the 1980s and its collapse and the end of the WTO and previous military arrangements in 1989. The study analyzes the 1989 revolutions and points to new problems and uncertainties facing East European states as they depoliticize their armed forces and renationalize their foreign security policies.