SERBIA AND NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO) – COLLABORATION AND GEOSTRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES 65 pages, pdf  Download Back

SERBIA AND NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO) – COLLABORATION AND GEOSTRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES

Publisher: Ranko Dragović

Volume: 65 pages, pdf

Description:

We will always rem em be r the images of A ugust 19-21, 1991 — Russian Re public President Boris Yeltsin atop a tank during the first hours of the Soviet coup declaring his defiance of the putsch, thousands of M oscow ’s citizens forming lines against the tanks that threatened to m ove against the Russian Parliament, and Soviet President Gorbachev returning to M oscow as the coup failed. But above all else, we will rem em ber the trium ph of dem ocracy over the coup plotters, the statues of Lenin being pulled to the ground, and the streets filled with people celebrating the prospect of self-governm ent. These events reflected what the world had witnessed in Prague, East Berlin, and other East European cities in 1989 and 1990 — the rejection of communism and the success of those seeking liberty. It is difficult to escape a feeling of euphoria over these events and the collapse of the repressive institutions that controlled Soviet life for over 70 years. There are now many new opportunities for dem ocratic growth in the former Soviet Union. However, even though the coup failed, many underlying political, interethnic, and economic problem s remain. This enormously com plex society stretches across II time zones, com prises over a hundred different ethnic groups, and has a population of 275 million. It has long suffered under an incom petent political system and endured the hardships and distortions of a centrally planned economy. Neither economic reforms to move this society toward a m arket system , nor political reform to establish effective institutions answerable to the people, will com e about overnight.