Developing a Security Regime for Eastern Europe

Without a security regime to replace the vacuum left by the collapse of the Soviet empire, democratization in formerly communist Europe may be insufficient to prevent a prolonged period of military insecurity and conflict. Criteria for the use of military force in support of a security regime in Eastern Europe should be developed, drawing on just-war theory. The objectives of military intervention should be legitimate, the costs involved should outweigh the benefits, and there should be legitimate authority for action. The article recommends a commitment by CSCE to the principle of military action in defence of existing international borders and/or in order to avoid massive loss of life within a member-state as a result of government action. Within this framework, CSCE members could then, where appropriate, make explicit statements of intent to come to the aid of states under threat of attack, backing up such commitments militarily, for example by basing multinational military forces in the countries concerned. The article suggests that peacetime security guarantees should be given to those former communist countries that have progressed furthest towards creating modern democracies and which have adopted moderate policies towards their neighbours. But it argues that, given the paramount need to prevent a future conflict with Russia, it is not appropriate at this stage to include former Soviet states in a system of formal guarantees.