Dan V Orza

South Eastern Europe Brigade: An Option for NATO-Led Peace Support Operations? Dan V Orza

Publisher Marketing: In response to current world security environment challenges at the regional level, several initiatives emerged establishing regional political or military organization. Today, with fourteen (14) member nations and two (2) observers, Multinational Peace Force South-Eastern Europe (MPFSEE) and its operational extention South Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG) is one of the largest regional initiatives in the world. The object of this research is to determine the suitability of SEEBRIG to perform NATO-led Peace Support Operations (PSOs). The analysis includes an examination of the SEEBRIG capabilities using NATO's Allied Command Operations (ACO) evaluation criteria readiness, sustainability, deployability and connectivity. The constraints, limitations, deficiencies, and shortfalls that affect SEEBRIG capacity will represent the outcome of this entire study. In addition, the areas that SEEBRIG needs to improve in terms of capabilities to increase potential to conduct NATO-led PSO will complete the thesis structure. Thus, a surprising result emerged showing that several operational, logistical or financial gaps affect SEEBRIG preparedness for a NATO mission. Moreover, the findings revealed the absence of involvement, or the insufficient commitment of SEEBRIG nations to find realistic solutions to existing problems and to allocate reasonable resources for a possible participation in a NATO-led PSO. Finally, the thesis concludes that SEEBRIG is limited or not yet prepared to undertake and successfully fulfill an eventual NATO-led PSO mission that might be assigned to it.