Anatomy of Post-Communist European Defense Institutions: The Mirage of Military Modernity

Although the West won the Cold War, the continuation of the status quo is not a foregone conclusion. The former Soviet-aligned regions outside of Russia -- Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, and others -- sit atop decaying armed forces while Russian behavior has grown more and more aggressive, as evidenced by its intervention in Ukraine in recent years.

Thomas Young delves into the state of these defense institutions in Central and Eastern Europe, whose resources have declined at a faster r…