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The time may be opportune to consider establishing a tangible, combined NATO and Russian military entity to jointly face the challenges of the post-9/11 world. The global geostrategic and political landscape has dramatically changed since al Qaeda's surprise attack on 11 September 2001, the United States and NATO's subsequent dismantling of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the total defeat and liberation of Saddam Hussein's Iraq. All recognize a common threat in transnational terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the need to commonly face a wide range of 21st century security issues. Additionally, a catalyst for such a NATO-Russia initiative is presenting itself with NATO's break from prior strictures limiting out-of-area deployments and the prospect of substantial US ground forces being repositioned from their bases in Germany to new locations in Eastern Europe. These recent factors, coupled with a steady if uneven improvement in relations between NATO and Russia over the last decade, make consideration of such an initiative both feasible and timely., Published in Parameters, US Army War College Quarterly, v34 n1 p89-103, Spring 2004.

In this study of Syria and its role in the peace process several key questions are asked: How is it that Syria has emerged after five consecutive defeats on the field of battle, the most recent being in 1982 in Lebanon, to become such an important and influential player in blocking repeated attempts to secure a permanent and long lasting peace in the region? How is it that despite a damaging military setback in 1982 against the Israelis, and military conflict with the United States in 1983, the Syrians have emerged as a near hegemonistic power within Lebanon, while the U.S. has withdrawn from that country and the overt Israeli presence has been reduced to a small enclave just north of its border with Lebanon? What is the Syrian role as guarantor of the Palestinian quest for self-determination, and within this role, why have the Syrians on several occasions viciously turned on the PLO? And Finally, as the only frontline Arab nation still in confrontation with the Israelis, how will the Syrians work the peace process to effect the return of the strategic Golan Heights to Syrian sovereignty. Seeing no progress, will the Syrians continue to be intransigent on all peace overtures proposed?

This paper is about ethnicity, particularly Hungarian ethnicity, and how it pertains to the Magyar'a present struggle to retain their collective identity in Romania. As 90 percent of the ethinic Hungarians in Romania live in Transylvania, the focus is on this ancient region. However in studying this complex issue we cannot limit our examination to only the Hungarians in Transylvania. For a complete understanding of this issue it will be necessary to become attuned to the historical undercurrents of the area. Consequently it is important to investigate as well the roots of Romanian ethnicity and how through the ages it has usually collided but sometimes coexisted with the Magyar's. As with all of Eastern Europe, this turbulent region is victim of its long history. Fettered to the past, it is difficult for these peoples to shake their ancient cultural enmities. This is the root of the problem today.