Between Past and Future: Civil-Military Relations in the Post-Communist Balkans by Biljana s> Vankovska Håkan Wiberg (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS I65 The argumentis clear,well groundedempirically,and a usefulcontribution to the civil-militaryrelations literature,as far as it goes. Which brings me to the problem: Forster, Edmunds and Cottey have talked to and received contributions from most, if not all, of the top local experts, plus the leading Western analysts; they have important things to say but what they have learnedisrationedout in the introductionsand conclusionsoffourseparate and ratherexpensive volumes. If the editors had written a single work on the transformationof post-Communist civil-militaryrelationsin comparative perspective the topic of theiroverall study incorporatingall that they had learned, it would merittop billingon the requiredreadinglist of any graduate course on civil-military relations or post-Soviet security issues. At ?5O.OO apiece times four volumes, however, I would be surprised if many cashstrappeduniversitylibraries ,let alone graduatestudentswho would find these books useful,would be preparedto contemplate the outlay for the entiretyof the series.Pity. Department of WarStudies DAVID BETZ King'sCollege London Vankovska,Biljana and Wiberg, H'akan.Between PastandFuture: Civil-Military Relationsin the Post-Communist Balkans.The Library of International Relations, I7. I. B. Tauris, London and New York 2003. xi + 355 pp. Notes. Bibliography.Index. ?45.??. BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT successfullyexamines the state of civil-military relations in post-Communist South East Europe whilst acknowledging the disparityand heterogeneityof the Balkannationsand theirmilitarytraditions. It is a brave endeavour since the internal political situation of some of these countries makes a more definitive and complete account almost impossible. The studyfocuses on Albania, Bulgariaand Romania as well as the Yugoslav successor states (Slovenia, Croatia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and FormerYugoslavRepublic of Macedonia), but with the notable exception of Bosnia-Herzegovina. It seeksto drawthe reader'sattentionto the importance of the militarytraditionin assessingthe stateof civil-militaryrelations,in both a historical and contemporary context, set specifically against the drive towards democratic control over the armed forces. By looking at the nonYugoslav states the authors have compiled essentiallytwo books which they successfully bring together in the final chapter. The introduction offers a concise but interestingoverviewof thefieldof civil-militaryrelations,although the rather overlong consideration of the problems of democratic civilian controlby NATO is somewhatout of place. An opening chapteron the history of the first and second Yugoslavia also serves to overcome the disparity between the Yugoslav and non-Yugoslav case studies presented later in the book. Of particularinterest is the commentary on the militarytraditionsof each state which enables the reader to understand the differentpast paths of the Balkannations and demonstratesthat theyhave farlessin common than most commentatorsclaim. The militarytradition,whetherbased on historicalfacts i66 SEER, 83, I, 2005 or, as is more often the case, on legends such as the Battle of Kosovo for the Serbs, plays a central part in the creation of a military ethos in most of the Balkan states, but more so in those that have just achieved or regained their full statehood. Nevertheless, the book's emphasis on militarytraditionmeans that at times the authorsfail to show how they measuredthe true extent of its importance. The chapter on the FederalRepublic of Yugoslaviacontains an extended account of the Battle of Kosovo, although its relevance to today's militaryethos remainsunclear. This is particularlyunfortunatefor the reader since the link between Milosevic and the Yugoslav Army (VJ) top brass is identifiedin the commentary as being due to theirjoint responsibilityfor the commission of war crimes. The authors do not go far enough in explaining the central role war crimes played in Milosevic's strategy during the I99os, however, and hence the importance of dealing with such a legacy in democratizingcivil-militaryrelationsin Serbiaand Montenegro. It is a pity that this otherwiseexcellent overview is undermined by such limitations of analysis. This is partly due to the number of case studies the authorsincorporateinto the book, studieswhich could alsohave been brought togethermore successfullyto reinforcethe finalchapter'sarguments.Significantly , too, the exclusion of Bosnia-Herzegovina leaves quite a gap. The justificationforthisis providedin a footnote, in which they statethat Bosniais simply too complicated to consider, but a more complete and credible explanation is needed. Although Bosnia's civil-military relations are more complicated due to the existence (untilrecently)of three separateforces, and the unique role played by the international community through SFOR and the OfficeoftheHigh Representative,itisneverthelessimportantto setitin the same context...