Consider this book on East Central European defense policies for your courses and professional knowledge. The 2014 Ukrainian-Crimean crisis has raised serious questions in the West about Russian motivations and future policy directions. Therefore, it is imperative to explore the defensiveperceptions, reactions, and preparations of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Is there a convergence of their approaches along similar paths, or do their different cultures and historical experiences prefigure a divergence of their defense policies?All four experienced in common the foundation of democratic states after World War I, submission to Nazism during World War II, communist take-overs in the late 1940s, and the 1989 anti-communist revolutions. However, their needs and postures have differed in their post-communist periods. Slovakiadid not gain admission to NATO until five years after the other three. Polish spending on defense has remained at the NATO standard of 2% of GDP, while that of the other three has dipped well below it. While Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic all seem to have little concern about Russia's policiesin Ukraine, the Polish response has been uniquely strong and militarized. The book will explore reasons for the different responses. | Defense Policies Of East-central European Countries After 1989 by James W. Peterson, Paperback | Indigo Chapters