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After the collapse of communism, new strategic thinking in Bulgaria has slowly emerged. The relatively sluggish pace of the process is reflected in the late beginnings of real security & defense reform. Only in the last four years have the Bulgarian political elite reached a basic consensus on the Euro-Atlantic direction of Bulgarian foreign policy. The article provides an overview of the slowly emerging political consensus on Bulgaria's security policy & the evolution of national strategic thinking. It also highlights some of the future challenges to the country's search for security in the context of integration in the Euro-Atlantic community. 25 References. Adapted from the source document.

Drawing on the literatures on democratization, security studies, and small states this dissertation explores the relationship of small states' domestic and international institutionalization and their security. Small states have limited power not only to affect their environment but also to guarantee national security. Small states, it is hypothesized, enhance their security through the consolidation of domestic institutions and the accumulation of capacities provided by their participation in capacity-reach international institutions. The dissertation tests the hypothesis by applying the comparative method to the post-communist states of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania. The three case studies analyze the effects of domestic institution-building and integration in international institutions on the security of each state. The study analyzes the policies that the three states applied in the last ten years after the collapse of communism, which led to a profound transformation of their national security. The most important finding of this dissertation is that the security of each of the states was determined not only by external factors, traditionally identified by realist approaches, but also by domestic factors. States that were able to quickly consolidate their political institutions were able to achieve not only a greater degree of integration in international institutions but also a greater level of security. Hence, states' attempts to enhance their security should not only seek formal alliances and integration in powerful international institutions but also a domestic institutional strength that would enable the state to achieve a further international integration and a greater capacity to address what the population perceives as security threats, both domestic and external. Thus, the security of small states is best achieved not only by attaining traditional security guarantees, i.e. alliances, but also by strengthening domestic institutions.

"Iraq can be considered the 'perfect storm' which brought out the stark differences between the US and Europe. The disagreement over the role of the United Nations continues and the bitterness in the United States against its betrayal by allies like France is not diminishing. Meanwhile, the standing of the United States among the European public has plummeted. Within Europe, political tensions between what US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld euphemistically called the 'Old' Europe and the 'New' Europe continue to divide. To fully comprehend these rifts, this volume takes a specific look at the core security priorities of each European state and whether these interests are best served through closer security collaboration with the US or with emerging European structures such as the European Rapid Reaction Force. It analyzes the contribution each state would make to transatlantic security, the role they envisage for existing security structures such as NATO, and the role the US would play in transatlantic security."--Provided by publisher.

AbstractThis article provides an overview of a project combining anthropological practice and research to examine various aspects of U.S. Marine Corps culture, conducted at the organization's request, in the wake of significant gender‐related misconduct involving Marines on social media. We examine the context and practice leading up to the research, address research design and execution, and describe both the broader Marine population and the characteristics of those in our sample. By examining the details of the project's context and execution, the article aims to advance anthropological discussion about the complexities of research with active duty military personnel, as well as provide insights into practice and research conducted from a standpoint within a military organization.