Electronic Contributions

Evaluating the Multilateral Framework of the Eastern Partnership

By Petr Kratochvil

Ever since the launch of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in Prague in May 2009, its added value to the European Neighbourhood Policy has been hotly discussed. Some analysts claim that the EaP has been so successful that it has virtually eclipsed the ENP and that the EaP´s arrival heralds a final farewell to a unified approach to Eastern and Southern neighbour countries. Others take the opposite stance and argue that the EaP does not present a qualitatively new situation in the EU´s relations with its neighbourhood and that the ENP remains the main vehicle for EU´s neighbourhood policy.

Afghans Want New U.S. Troops To Deliver Security, Services To Hotspots

By Abubakar Siddique

Afghanistan's southeastern Khost Province has a long tradition as a regional crossroads. For centuries, traders and militaries alike used the nearby Tochi Pass as a bridge linking the lands that lie beyond the present-day Afghan-Pakistani border. The region's recent history, however, is largely written in blood. The oak- and pine-covered mountains of Khost Province witnessed some of the fiercest fighting seen during the Soviet-Afghan War, with Red Army troops and their Afghan allies battling the mujahedin who operated from across the nearby border.

Overcoming Obama's ‘Munich Moment'

By Mitchell A. Belfer

History weighs heavy in Central Europe, and many inhabitants of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland define, and compare, themselves according to the political conditions of the WWII and post-WWII periods. The burden of history was seemingly lost on Obama as he rang Fischer - at midnight local time - to announce the end of the US missile defence project (which was meant to be housed by the Czech Republic and Poland) and with it any illusions of how the Czech Republic was seen in Washington.

Turkey's Strategic Imperatives (2010-2012)

By Aneta Speldova, Martin Sotola and Tereza Trejbalova

With the unfolding nuclearisation of Iran, it is necessary to reassess Turkey, as a regional pivot, able to shape the boundaries of engagement -- whether such engagement occurs on the diplomatic/political or military level -- and explore some strategic imperatives Turkey may define (for itself) vis-à-vis Iran. While it is clear that Iran is reaching for hegemony, Turkey has the capability to balance against Iran's ambitions and of emerging as a regional hegemon itself. It is noteworthy that Turkey's power is not only based on its military prowess, its economic potential and geographic proximity is also central.