F. Stephen Larrabee

This volume is based on a series of papers delivered at the conference by specialists from the United States and both Eastern and Western Europe. It argues that arms control must shift its focus from quantities to qualities of weapons and attempt to constrain military technology.

Originally published in 1987. European concerns about strategic defense and its impact on the stability of the East-West strategic balance have been the subject of frequent and lively discussion at the Institute for East-West Security Studies in the more than four years since President Reagan announced his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in Marc

The United States has long maintained a strategic partnership with Turkey, a powerful NATO ally, as a central element of U.S. strategy in Eurasia and the Middle East. But Turkey's ties with its neighbors, the United States, and Europe have become strained in recent years. RAND researchers assess key challenges confronting the U.S.-Turkish partnership and advance recommendations to sustain it during what is likely to be a turbulent decade ahead.

This volume is based on a series of papers delivered at the conference by specialists from the United States and both Eastern and Western Europe. It argues that arms control must shift its focus from quantities to qualities of weapons and attempt to constrain military technology.

Originally published in 1987. European concerns about strategic defense and its impact on the stability of the East-West strategic balance have been the subject of frequent and lively discussion at the Institute for East-West Security Studies in the more than four years since President Reagan announced his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in Marc

This report examines the impact of renewed tension between NATO and Russia on key allies and partners in central and northeastern Europe. The objective is to identify how changes in the interests, security strategies, and defense capabilities of these countries affect U.S. partnering in the region, with a focus on implications for the U.S. Air Force. Opportunities for strengthening partnerships exist in many areas.

Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea has challenged the integrity of Europe's territorial borders and had a broader negative impact on the European security environment. This report analyzes how Europeans perceive the Russian threat--whether European states regard Russia's policy in eastern and northern Europe as a security priority, how they have responded to Russian behavior, and how officials see the future of Russo-European relations.

Given Russia's annexation of Crimea and continued aggression in eastern Ukraine, Europe must reassess its approach to a regional security environment previously thought to be stable and relatively benign. This report analyzes the vulnerability of European states to possible forms of Russian influence, pressure, and intimidation and examines four areas of potential European vulnerability: military, trade and investment, energy, and politics.

In the wake of Russia s annexation of Crimea and attempt to destabilize eastern Ukraine, the United States will have to reexamine the basic premises of its European policy. The requirement that NATO may have to build a more robust deterrence and defense posture in Eastern Europe would require the Army and Air Force to revisit their planning assumptions that have minimized the U.S. military commitments to the region since the end of the Cold War."

The first in a series exploring the elements of a national strategy for U.S. foreign policy, this book examines the most critical decisions likely to face the next president. The book covers global and regional issues and spotlights the long-term policy issues and organizational, financial, and diplomatic challenges that will confront senior U.S. officials in 2017 and beyond.

Turkey and Iran tend to be rivals rather than close partners, despite sharing certain economic and security interests. For instance, Turkey supports the opposition in Syria, while Iran supports the regime. Turkey is further concerned about a possible nuclear arms race in the Middle East. U.S. and Turkish interests in the region closely overlap, but the United States should not expect Turkey to follow its policy toward Iran unconditionally.

Daunting challenges lie ahead for Arab countries where revolutions have upended longstanding authoritarian regimes. These unexpected events created new uncertainties in a troubled region: Would the Arab Spring lead to a flowering of democracy? Would loosening of the political systems in these countries unleash dangerous forces of extremism or ethno-sectarian conflict? Would new autocrats replace the old ones? Through a comparative analysis of past democratization experiences over nearly four decades and a detailed look at recent uprisings in the Arab world, this volume explores the conditions and decisions that are most likely to influence whether democratization will succeed in Arab countries undergoing political transitions. It also identifies the main challenges to democracy in these countries, analyzes how other countries have made similar transitions, and suggests what the United States and the international community can do to help strengthen fledgling democracies in the Arab world.

Turkey, a Muslim-majority country, is pivotal to Western security interests in the Middle East. Its ruling party, the AKP, has Islamic roots but operates within a framework of strict secular democracy, which has generated controversy over the boundaries between secularism and religion. This monograph describes the politico-religious landscape in Turkey and evaluates how the balance between secular and religious forces has changed over the past decade.In Turkey, an Islamic ruling party operates within a framework of strict secularism. This monograph describes the controversy over the boundaries of secularity and religion in Turkey and how the balance between these forces has changed over the past decade.

Strains in U.S.-Turkish have grown since the end of the Cold War. Divergences have been particularly visible in policy toward the Middle East. As a result, Turkey is likely to be an increasingly difficult and less predictable partner in the future.Turkey has long been an important ally, but Ankara is increasingly behaving more independently and assertively in ways that must factor into future U.S. planning for the region.

Peace is the most essential product of nation-building. Without peace, neither economic growth nor democratization is possible. The authors of "Europe's Role in Nation-Building" investigate the use of armed force as part of broader nation-building efforts led by European powers and its success at achieving the objective of transforming a society emerging from conflict into one at peace with itself and its neighbours. They then evaluate Europe's performance against the U.S. and United Nations records in past nation-building operations.The authors focus on factors that can be influenced by outside powers, making valuable recommendations that address the pitfalls of and lessons learned from past operations. They emphasize the need for multilateral operations and the involvement of crucial actors like the European Union and NATO. The success of nation-building activities depends on the wisdom with which all resources are employed."The RAND Nation-Building" series is just this kind of resource, having drawn from a total of 22 European, U.N. and U.S. led nation-building operations since World War II.Other volumes in the series examine the involvement of the United States and the UN in nation-building efforts. In this new addition to the series, the authors take an in-depth look at six European cases (Macedonia, Bosnia, Cote d'Ivoire, Albania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone) and one Australian-led operation (the Solomon Islands) to complete a comprehensive history of best practices in nation-building. This series serves as an indispensable reference for the planning of successful future interventions.

On May 5th-6th 2003, RAND and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy held a two-day conference in Geneva that examined the impact of the Iraq war on the security of the Middle East. This document summarizes the main issues and points of discussion at the conference.

This text looks at NATO's eastern agenda which is facing several challenges, including consolidating the democratic transitions in Central and Eastern Europe, ensuring the security of the Baltic states and developing a post-NATO-enlargemnt strategy for Ukraine.

Turkey is facing strategic and security issues in the international environment during a time of extraordinary flux.