Partnership for peace

European security has undergone profound changes since 1989. In this situation the Central and Eastern Europe Countries (CEEC) have been trying to find a security umbrella in NATO, which was seen as a key basis of security in post-Cold War Europe. At the Brussels Summit of 10-11 January 1994, the Alliance, issued an invitation to the CEEC able an willing to join NATO’s new cooperative framework, namely, the Partnership for Peace (PfP). The PfP is a practical programme going beyond a dialogue and cooperation, and aimed to design to forge a partnership between the Alliance and the CEEC. This thesis describes the PfP programme and its activities in PfP related areas of cooperation. It begins with a review of PfP’s origins, development and enhancement. It then examines the structure and usefulness of the PfP. It evaluates the political and military effects of the PfP to participating states. It concludes with a view that the PfP has led to a high degree of self-differentiation among partners and has shifted CEEC’ attitudes toward PfP from one of scepticism to one of enthusiastic support, and that it has become an important stage in the enlargement of NATO.