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Yugoslavia National Security
YU050001.
Member of Yugoslav People's Army
IN 1990 THE NATIONAL SECURITY of Yugoslavia reflected various
strengths and weaknesses of its history, society, economy, and
politics. Adhering to its nonaligned foreign policy, Yugoslavia
belonged to no military alliance and maintained an
omnidirectional defense posture. Although potential invasion by
the Soviet Union remained the primary factor in Yugoslav defense
planning, external threats to Yugoslavia were greatly reduced in
1990. The country's military doctrine of Total National Defense
(TND) emphasized coordination between a standing army and large
numbers of ordinary citizens organized into locally based militia
units. TND was designed to counter a massive Soviet-led Warsaw
Pact invasion. It used the wartime experience of Yugoslavia's
partisan guerrilla fighters as its model.
The armed forces consisted of the Yugoslav People's Army
(YPA) and the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF). The YPA, a
regular force of more than 180,000 troops, was organized into
three armed services, the ground forces or army, the air force,
and the navy. Most soldiers in the YPA were conscripts who were
led by a professional officer corps. Apparently an effective
fighting force, the YPA generally exercised control over the
large, militia-like TDF. The YPA exercised autonomy in military
matters and also exerted considerable influence within the League
of Communists of Yugoslavia
(
LCY--see Glossary) and the civilian
government.
In 1990 the YPA retained both popular prestige and priority
access to national economic resources, but circumstances were
changing. Some citizens increasingly viewed the YPA as a vehicle
for domination by the Republic of Serbia, while others saw it as
the country's only safeguard against divisive interests.
Meanwhile, economic stringency obliged the YPA to accept reduced
budgets and manpower.
In 1990 the internal threats of nationalism (based on claims
of
nations and nationalities--see Glossary), separatism, and
political and economic crises were more acute than any
conceivable external threat to Yugoslavia's national security.
The YPA's mission to defend the country's independence against
external aggression was undisputed. However, its mission of
protecting the constitutional order against change from within
aroused controversy. The LCY and civilian government increasingly
looked to the YPA to ensure public order against nationalist and
separatist activity and the ensuing political and social crises.
The military strongly supported continued survival of the unified
federal state. However, like Yugoslav society as a whole, the YPA
was beset by ethnic tensions.
Josip Broz Tito, the only modern Yugoslav leader to
successfully balance military and political roles, believed that
the YPA had to protect the established political and economic
system against internal opponents because domestic divisions
would weaken the country's defense against external threats. In a
time of reduced foreign threats, however, many Yugoslav leaders
believed the YPA should restrict its role to external defense,
minimizing its internal security functions.
Data as of December 1990
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