Endgame in Nato's Enlargement by Yaroslav Bilinsky (1999, Hardcover)

Key Details
Author:	Yaroslav Bilinsky
Language:	English
Publisher:	Praeger Pub Text
Format:	Hardcover
ISBN-10:	0275963632
ISBN-13:	9780275963637

Size
Length:	148 pages
Height:	10 in
Width:	6.8 in
Thickness:	1 in
Weight:	16.8 oz

Publisher's Note
After briefly dealing with arguments for and against NATO's enlargement as far as Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, the author shows why the enlargement process must be carried forward to include, in the near future, the three Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and Ukraine. Inclusion of the Baltic States and of Ukraine in NATO would stabilize the region by helping the Russian democrats to concentrate on building a genuinely democratic, market-oriented Russian national state, instead of succumbing to the temptation to restore the Soviet Union. Ukraine could also contribute to NATO a sizable conventional military force and a prime strategic area; the Baltic States offer a prime location and an indomitable spirit. The Balts and Ukraine will help NATO when finally admitted as full members.

Bilinsky (political science and international relations, U. of Delaware) argues that the three Baltic states and Ukraine should be granted NATO membership at the same time as the three first recipients, because they too were victims of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The west embracing them, he says, would prevent Russia from expanding again into a empire. He begins by reviewing arguments for and against enlarging the Alliance at all, then looks in turn at the three Baltic states and at Ukraine, and brings the story up to the middle of 1998. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.