US Military Bases in Romania and Bulgaria and Their Possible Implications on Regional Security
US Military Bases in Romania and Bulgaria and Their Possible Implications on Regional Security

Author(s): Saffet Akkaya
Subject(s): Politics, Regional Geography, Military history, Political history, Security and defense, Military policy, Transformation Period (1990 - 2010)
Published by: IFIMES Mednarodni inštitut za bližnjevzhodne in balkanske študije
Keywords: USA; military bases; Romania; Bulgaria; security; region;
Summary/Abstract: It is evident that, almost two decades passed after the end of cold war period, and the world is divided into two main camps to name; the Centre and the Periphery. At the beginning of this article, it may be useful to look at the position of the states like Bulgaria and Romania from a broader perspective, which once were the members of the periphery in the Communist Block. Throughout the new reformation and restructuring phases of the global age, new world order has dictated certain unnamed rules that are vital for the future of global order and mankind. Current world order is completely different and the political, geographical or cultural principles of the cold-war era to classify the states into different groups are not relevant anymore. Description of south, north, west, second world, and third world has changed dramatically. Centre is composed of economically and militarily strong states, basically the representatives of hegemonic liberalism, no matter at which geographic location they occupy on the planet. On the other hand, Periphery is made by the states who were once the members of Second (communist block) or Third Worlds and some other states that are excluded from the centre for cultural, religious or ideological reasons. Now, there is a struggle among the peripheral states, trying to be a member of centre at all costs. The expansion of NATO and EU towards east to the expense of old Soviet territories in general and Russia in particular, need to be evaluated through the principles of a broader security perception.

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