Anti-communist revolutions and the emergence of states responsible for their own defense

The chapter briefly examines various forms of extrication from communism leading to different forms of post-communist governments. While nationalism underlined all revolutions that overthrew communism in Eastern Europe, in some cases the revolutions were peaceful and led to liberal political and social order, while in others the revolutions were violent or led to further violence mostly motivated by nationalism. The prevalence of elite-led nationalistic goals led to “wars of Yugoslavian succession” which wrecked the former Yugoslavia for a decade between 1991 and 2001. In the rest of the region non-violent revolution mostly prevailed, and the emerging liberal states, after a brief period of hesitation, sought integration into Western security institutions, chiefly NATO and EU. Different domestic policy formation factors in countries of the region explain the different pace and strength of integration drives in the countries of the region. These factors are conceptualized as a dialectic between forces of conservatism rooted in nationalism or communism, and forces of liberalism, seeking integration with the West.