Strategic missile deployment: A geographic perspective on central Europe

During the past several decades, central European region has undergone significant political, economical, and geopolitical changes. This period has been marked by sudden swings from the geopolitical and military exploits of Nazi Germany to Soviet dominated communism and then to a free market democracy after the downfall of the Iron Curtain. Following the Soviet Union, the main geopolitical force and military player in this region is the United States of America. The question now arises, which direction is the geopolitical pendulum going to swing in the coming decades? One crucial test of these current developments was the planned deployment of the ground based mid-course defense system (GMD) that was proposed by the United States and supported by the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic. The objective of this research is to determine the current geopolitical atmosphere in Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic regarding the missile deployment and analyze additional factors that form public perception of current geopolitical status quo. As the results indicate, “the geopolitical pendulum” may swing again, but this time away from the United States towards more neutral ground.

Research highlights► Missile deployment is one of the most sensitive issues facing the world today that has a major impact on international relations and peace. ► The Central European region is a buffer zone between the “Western Allies” and Russia. The findings of this research indicate that Central Europe would prefer to remain neutral in terms of missile deployment and military operations. ► The current atmosphere in Central Europe is open and positive towards the USA and its western allies. ► Poland and the Czech Republic share the same motivation in that they hope missile deployment will deter any aggression from Russia. They are not concerned about Iran or Korea, but have major apprehensions about Russia. ► The United States should proceed cautiously in regard to deploying missiles in these regions as it will increase tensions between Russia and the West thus creating instability in Central Europe.