Romania and the Warsaw Pact: the defense policy of a reluctant ally

Alex Alexiev

Expert InsightsPublished 1979

Examines Romanian deviation from accepted Warsaw Pact practices in the military-political realm. Romanian defense doctrine has undergone a metamorphosis from one based on collective defense of the Soviet Bloc to stressing national defense and the concept of people's war. While remaining a nominal member of the Warsaw Pact, Romania has refused to cooperate on most substantive military matters, abstaining from Warsaw Pact maneuvers and not allowing any Warsaw Pact troops on its territory. At the same time, Romania has established extensive military relations with non-Warsaw Pact and NATO countries. Romania has worked to build a domestic arms production capacity in collaboration with Western partners. The Romanian military deviation has discredited the image of Warsaw Pact as a cohesive and ideologically motivated military alliance and has set a dangerous precedent. The Romanian deviation has negatively affected Soviet maneuverability on the Pact's South-Eastern flank and may seriously compromise a Warsaw Pact effort in the future.

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1979
  • Pages: 23
  • Document Number: P-6270

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Alexiev, Alex, Romania and the Warsaw Pact: the defense policy of a reluctant ally. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1979. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6270.html.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND paper series. The paper series was a product of RAND from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.