Yudit Kiss – författare

In 1989-90 the collapse of state socialism and the end of the Cold War brought dramatic changes for the defence industries of East-Central Europe. Initially it seemed that the resources devoted to the Cold War confrontation might become available for investment in non-military economic and social progress. However, by 1994 this optimism had given way to recognition that the transformation would involve significant costs and could not be accomplished quickly. The Defence Industry in East-Central Europe charts the development of the industries of the Visegrad countries - Czechoslovakia and its successor states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia; Poland; and Hungary. In the first part, national case studies underline the different approaches to reform adopted in the individual countries. The second part uses unique information derived from extensive interviews at enterprises in each of the four countries to examine the transformation of industry from a producer perspective.

The defence industry was one of the pillars of the command economy system in East Central Europe. After the end of the cold war the sector went through dramatic changes: it was radically downsized, reorganized and restructured according to the needs of the emerging new socio-economic systems. One of the major factors that shaped this adjustment was the enlargement of NATO and the European Union and the prospect of integration into these two organizations. The military establishments and defence industries became principal actors in the integration process, which helped them to acquire political legitimization and new economic resources. At the same time, integration presented unexpected challenges and constraints for the regions restructuring defence industry. This book presents a comparative analysis of the defence industries of six East Central European countries-Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia-describing how they adjusted to the changed political and economic environment in both the domestic and international contexts. After the cold war, arms makers in East Central Europe found themselves confronting a situation like that faced by many of today's industrial producers: a drastic change of the economic, political and social environment. Their experiences provide valuable lessons for governments and companies in the post-2008 global economy.