The chapters in this book were first presented at a NATO Advanced Research Workshop on The Challenge of Transformation in Europe, held at Brdo in Slovenia between 27–30 May 2004. The Workshop was jointly organised by the Governance Research Centre of the University of Bristol and the Defence Research Centre of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, and financed by the NATO Science Programme (Grant No. SST.ARW.979967). The aim of the workshop was to provide a forum for expert discussion of the defence transformation challenges facing European countries today: in particular, the military, political, budgetary and societal implications of the changing nature of the defence of national territory imperative. Workshop participants were drawn from a range of different groups involved in defence transformation processes, including academic experts, analysts from think tanks, journalists, policy makers and serving military officers.

A key assumption underlying the workshop was that there are a number of themes in this area that transcend the traditional divisions between western and postcommunist Europe. The workshop was themed around eight different sessions, each focused around a particular area of military role evolution and illustrated by the experiences of a specific country exemplar. These included: the changing nature of the defence of national territory role; expeditionary warfare; peacekeeping and humanitarian intervention; defence diplomacy; domestic military assistance; and internal security. The chapters in this volume present a cross section of country case studies in each of these areas, including the experiences of the United States, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Turkey. The contributions by Marjan Malešič, Timothy Edmunds and Anne Aldis, build on these case studies – as well as the workshop discussion – to provide a wider overview of defence transformation in Europe today.

Timothy Edmunds and Marjan Malešič