V. The return of history.

This article examines the impact of the Brexit process on security policy and related political discourse in Central and Eastern Europe. Developments related to the Brexit process are considered in its two-fold dimensions: direct impact, on the European Union, and indirect effect, on UK's contribution to NATO. In this context, the article proposes a qualitative analysis of foreign policy and security national strategy documents, official statements, media articles, public information sources, as well as commentaries, op-eds and positions of think tanks in the region. The aim is to reflect the perspectives associated to the Brexit process in Central and Eastern European countries, as captured in official and independent documents and positions. The article investigates conditions for the emergence of a new post-Brexit special relationship between the UK and the EU in the foreign and security field. Nuances between security policy discourses among different countries in Central and Eastern Europe reflect their various foreign policy orientations, preferences and commitments to the European security project. Opinions reflect that the UK's influence on the European security agenda is likely to remain considerable, given its international standing, NATO role as well as recent security developments on its own territory.

Suggesting that events in Poland during 1980-1981 represent the tip of an iceberg, the contributors examine the rise of nationalism in Eastern Europe and its potential consequences for European security. They analyze developing problems and trends in the region, including the cooling of relations between the USSR and individual countries in Eastern Europe, the continuing economic crisis, changing social structures, the influence of the intelligentsia, and the eroding importance of ideology as a key part of Eastern Europe's political culture. The second half of the book focuses on the impact of these shifts on political and military relations between the USSR and Eastern European countries and on the efficient functioning of the Warsaw Pact.

The author of this report argues that while there has been considerable attention in the public domain about the fundamental changes which have recently transpired in Europe, very little has been written concerning the effect these political and security changes will have on the U.S. Army. The Seventh Army in Germany has been a symbol of the U.S. commitment to NATO for over 40 years. Now that the threat to our allies in Central and Western Europe has diminished at best, or become ambivalent at worst, just where does the Army fit in the future of the European security environment? The author contends that there continues to be a need for a U.S. Army presence in Europe, for security and political reasons, however, only if it is willing and capable of changing in terms of its structures and attitudes.