Defense industrial bases (DIB) in six small NATO post-communist countries

Authors

  • Bohuslav Pernica University of Pardubice, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Pardubice
  • Jaroslav Dvorak Klaipėda University, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Klaipeda
  • Zsolt Lazar Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy, Budapest
  • Balázs Taksás Ludovika - University of Public Service, Faculty of Military Sciences and Officer Training, Budapest
  • Alex Maskalík Ministry of Defence, The Institute of Military History, Bratislava

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.18.1.53

Keywords:

Defence industry, modernisation, Crimea crisis, NATO, post-communism

Abstract

This article investigates the changes in the defense industrial base (DIB) of the small NATO post-communist countries: Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. It considers the historical development of their industries from the Soviet era and the developments caused by the Crimea and Ukraine conflicts. It finds that exports to the markets of the former communist Czechoslovakia continued for Czechia with the DIB owned and controlled by oligarchs—who have been able to leverage this power to influence defense policy. In Slovakia, the DIB is insignificant and mainly under the influence of Czechia. The Hungarian DIB is being redeveloped by the richest members of Hungarian society, through international joint ventures, with the aim of expanding exports. The DIBs of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania produce only what is needed by their national armed forces—which seems unlikely to change.

Author Biographies

Bohuslav Pernica, University of Pardubice, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Pardubice

ORCID 0000-0002-1087-6888, senior lecturer, Ph.D. in military economics in 2003 2010–2014 a military adviser to Deputy minister; a co-editor of the Czech White Paper on Defence in 2011 and main analyst in the team negotiating the Gripen lease after 2015; he focuses on issues of All-Volunteer Force, military spending, defence industry, Security Sector Reform in the post-communist countries, and corruption in his research.

Jaroslav Dvorak, Klaipėda University, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Klaipeda

ORCID 0000-0003-1052-8741, head of the Department of Public Administration and Political Sciences and has longstanding research experience in evidence-based public policy making. He has also prepared and published scientific publications on these subjects. He is visiting assoc. professor at University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Zsolt Lazar, Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy, Budapest

ORCID 0000-0002-2240-0430, senior research fellow, he studied aviation-mechanics and completed an internship at a military airbase, holds a ‘Managing in a Global Context’ Master’s degree from the Jönköping International Business School in Sweden, majoring in business administration and an International Business Relations degree jointly from the Hungarian International Business School and Oxford Brookes University in the UK. Additionally, he has attended several defence and security-related training courses in Sweden and Germany.

Balázs Taksás, Ludovika - University of Public Service, Faculty of Military Sciences and Officer Training, Budapest

ORCID 0000-0001-7583-4198, senior lecturer (military officer), PhD of military science, associate professor of the Ludovika – University of Public Service Hungary. He is former visiting researcher of the University of North Georgia USA, co-author of several books and participated in military courses in different countries. His main research area is defence economics, especially economic security, and defence industry.

Alex Maskalík, Ministry of Defence, The Institute of Military History, Bratislava

ORCID 0000-0001-6640-0961, senior research fellow, military historiographer focusing on the Czechoslovak armed forces (1918–1992) and construction of military capabilities, an expert in military personal policy and defence industry in Slovakia. He studied at the University Prešov (History and Ukrainian studies), PhD in history, senior research fellow at the Institute of Military History, author of several books assessing Czechoslovak and Slovak military elite.

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Published

2023-04-17

How to Cite

Pernica, B., Dvorak, J., Lazar, Z., Taksás, B., & Maskalík, A. (2023). Defense industrial bases (DIB) in six small NATO post-communist countries. The Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.18.1.53

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2023)

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Articles

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