The Geography of Demilitarisation: Do Regional Economic Disparities Affect the Spatial Distribution of Military Base Closures?

Very few researchers have focused on the question of: if and to what extent, regional economic disparities affect military base closures. In this paper, we aim to explain regional patterns of military base closures in the Czech Republic, a country that has experienced a sharp decline in military employment and expenditures since the beginning of 1990s. Three groups of predictors of closure were considered: local (size, age, location and hierarchical position of the military base); regional (wages, unemployment, city size, the initial level of militarisation of the district); and national-level predictors (geostrategic priorities and restructuring of the Czech Armed Forces). Our research is informed by the theory of public choice and its application to the decision-making processes concerning military base closures and realignments. We employed a combination of regression models to determine which group of the above-mentioned factors affected the spatial distribution of military bases in the period 1994–2005. While geostrategic factors (such as distance from the border with West Germany) and restructuring of the army (type of a military base) were the most important, regional economic disparities showed no significant correlation with the intensity of military base closures/downsizing. We did not demonstrate that military bases in economically lagging regions had been systematically protected in the Czech Republic.

THE IMPACTS OF MILITARY BASE CLOSURES AND REALIGNMENTS WITH SOME EXAMPLES BASED ON LOCAL REVITALIZATION PROGRAMS IN POLAND

The literature in the field of economic sciences analyzes the role of military base (unit) on socio-economic development in many perspectives and scales but the local perspective is especially important as the location of military units has significant social, economic and spatial impacts and favors establishing relations between army and local entities, in particular self-government authorities, educational institutions, non-governmental organizations and residents. That is why also military base closures and realignments have prompted some of the most vocal public concerns in surrounding communities. The actual magnitude of local effects connected with closures is usually difficult to estimate, and is based primarily on case studies with some attempts to use statistical analysis in limited range (like employment). The other issue described in the literature is connect- ed with the process of revitalization (recovery) of local communes. One of the instruments of programming the process of so-called mitigation of crisis in the degraded areas has been the local revitalization programs in Poland in recent years. Literature and empirical evidence proves that the closure and alignment of a military unit results in some socioeconomic distress for community and it may be a decisive factor for the emergence of situations in certain areas characterized by the concentration of negative social problems and the occurrence of other negative phenomena (in the economic, environmental, spatio-functional or technical sphere) what is a prerequisite for marking the revitalization area according to Polish law. The EU-financed projects designed in the pro- gram should provide an assist to aid community revitalization efforts. This article analyzes examples of local revitalization pro- grams in communities where the military unit was closed. The aim of the case studies will be not only to learn about the actual impacts in the community and the proposals for minimizing those impacts, but also the assessment of the usefulness of the analysis of these planning documents to determine the socio-economic and spatial impacts of military dislocation on the local scale.

Opportunistic conservation at former military sites in the United States

Recent military base closures and realignments in the United States have opened dozens of former training and testing sites to new uses and priorities. One common transition is to designate these lands as national wildlife refuges. This presents conservation opportunities on hundreds of thousands of hectares previously under military control, but the ecological restoration and subsequent reuse of these lands is complex and fraught with challenges. Unexploded ordnance, soil and water contamination, reinforced structures, and other military remainders exist on many of these sites, and wildlife refuge managers typically receive little funding or training to contend with such relicts. This paper acknowledges some of the real conservation opportunities provided by military-to-wildlife (M2W) refuges, but emphasizes that restoration and conservation measures at these sites remain bounded by physical and sociopolitical constraints. One outcome of these constraints is ‘opportunistic conservation’, where habitat and wildlife goals are shaped or constrained by the lingering presence of prior military uses. Working from case studies and interviews conducted at M2W sites in the United States, this research suggests that opportunistic conservation represents a limited vision for restoration and conservation at these places that also potentially obscures these limitations. At many of these same sites, however, more affirmative opportunistic conservation efforts exhibit creative responses given the conditions that exist.