Soldiers and Societies in Postcommunist Europe by A. s> Forster T. Edmunds A. Cottey (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS I63 In Estonia, by contrast, the Popular Front'sassurancesof full civil rights though ultimatelynot upheld - seemed credible to most non-titularsduring I990-9 I, a factwhich speaksvolumesforthecautious,peacefulandpragmatic approachadopted by this organization. The conclusionsof theworkalsodrawheavilyon the new socialmovements theory previously employed by the likes of Tarrow, Laitin and Smith and Wilson. In this regard, Kolsto asserts that the resources of the titular movement were weakerand the opportunitiesof non-titularscorrespondingly strongerin Moldova when compared to the Estoniancase. Unlike in Estonia, non-titulars in Moldova tended to imagine themselves as sitting above the titular nationality within the Soviet hierarchy of national groups. Perhaps more significantwas the coherent sense of regional identity found amongst residentsof Dniestr, irrespectiveof ethnicity.Left-bankresidentshad ofcourse formedpartof the USSR since itsinception, and have shownlittleenthusiasm for an independent Moldova. In Estonia, by contrast, non-titularsupportfor independent statehood has continued to grow throughout the I99oS, despite widespread perceptions of discrimination. While all the authors emphasize that the explanation lies firstand foremost in domestic factors, the divergent fates of the two countries since I990 can be explained at least partly by the attitude of the West, which has always exhibited a far greater interest in the Balticthan it has in the south-easternborderlandsof the formerSoviet Union. Whereas Western governments and International Governmental Organizationshave consistentlyintervenedin Estoniaover the pastdecade, in Moldova such engagement was far too little and too late. This can only have given the green light to Dniestr separatists and their backers in Russia. Finally, in seeking to explain the outbreak of violent conflict in Moldova, Kolsto emphasizesthe crucialrole of the FourteenthArmy,which he characterizesas the 'jokerin the game' (p. 269). Contingency, as the editor readily admits, is vital to understandingany outbreakof conflict. Moreover, he recognizes that the common structuralfactors governing the Estonian and Moldovan cases will not necessarilybe decisive in other conflict situations.All the same, this book should be essential reading for anyone interested in gaining a more nuanced understandingnot only of the cases at hand, but also of the general dynamicsof ethnic relationswithin the formerUSSR more generally. Glasgow BalticResearch Unit DAVID J. SMITH Department ofCentral andEastEuropean Studies University ofGlasgow Forster, A.; Edmunds, T. and Cottey, A. (eds). Soldiersand Societiesin Postcommunist Europe.One Europe or Several? Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke and New York, 2003. ix + 264pp. Tables. Notes. Index. ?50.00. THIsbook is the third in a series of four edited volumes by Anthony Forster, Timothy Edmunds and Andrew Cottey on 'The Transformation of CivilMilitaryRelations in Comparative Context' all productsof the Economic and Social Research Council's 'One Europe or Several?'programme. The 164 SEER, 83, I, 2005 two previous volumes, Democratic Control of theMilitaiyin Postcommunist Europe. Guarding theGuards and TheChallenge of MilitagyReform in Postcomunist Europe, both alsopublishedby PalgraveMacmillan, looked at the issuesof democratic control and the modernization and professionalization of East European armed forces respectively;this volume looks at the transformationof postCommunist civil-militaryrelationsin comparativecontext from the perspective of military-society relations. The chapterswere all originallypresented at a conference held in Slovenia in March 2002. The editors, however, have moved mountains to impose on the individualcontributorsa common analyticalframework laidoutplainly in chapterone, 'ArmedForcesand Society:A FrameworkforAnalysis',about which more later -and a more orlessisomorphicchapterdesign.As a result, in contrast with the norm for conference proceedings, the book reads as a coherent whole and the editors'comparativeconclusions in the finalchapter, 'Patternsand Trendsin Military-SocietyRelationsin PostcommunistEurope', are well grounded. Given the scale of the task of getting fourteen academic contributorsto work to the same plan the phrase 'herdingcats' springsto mind the editorsareto be applauded. In general,the book is sensiblylaid out and well organizedwith, in addition to introductory and concluding chapters by the editors, four chapters on Central Europe, two chapters on the Baltic states, five on South Eastern Europe,and one on the formerSovietUnion. ButI mustquestionthe balance: the largest part of post-Communist Europe, the former Soviet Union, is covered only by a single chapter on Ukraine while Russia does not even appearas an index entry.This is perplexing.And a little disappointingtoo as, it would seem to me, the application of the editors' analytical frameworkto Russiawould have been most interesting. That said, the qualityof the twelve substantivechapterseach on a different countryis generallyhigh. Given the scope of the workI cannot...