America's New Allies

'"America's New Allies" gives readers an informative and incisive analysis of the contribution that NATO's three new members will be making to enhance Euro-Atlantic security. The book provides a timely refutation to all the nay-sayers who failed to understand that NATO's enlargement greatly enhances the prospects of a secure and peaceful Europe' - Zbigniew Brzezinski, Center for Strategic and International Studies.'By examining the expansion of NATO as a process of post-communist integration, "America's New Allies" makes a significant contribution to our understanding of East Central Europe's role in our common security future' - Norman M. Naimark, Stanford University."America's New Allies" comprehensively analyzes the strengths and liabilities that accompany the 1999 addition of three former Soviet satellite nations - Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic - to the ranks of the 16-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This controversial enlargement of NATO formalizes the new geopolitical realities in Eastern Europe and forces the U.S. military to confront the prospect of defending these former enemies against armed attack. This round of enlargement is part of a larger restructuring of NATO underway since the end of the Cold War and tested by NATO's 1999 action in Kosovo.The current enlargement - together with the prospect of adding other countries to NATO and the unprecedented institutional challenges highlighted during the Kosovo conflict - represents a defining moment for the emerging post-Cold War security architecture and, in turn, for the long-term relationship between the United States and Europe. The issues discussed in "America's New Allies" will be vigorously debated for years to come. Andrew A. Michta is professor of international studies at Rhodes College in Memphis. Other contributors include Dale Herspring, Kansas State University; Thomas Szanya, RAND Corporation's International Studies Group; Zoltan Barany, University of Texas at Austin; and Sean Kay, Rhodes College.