Armed forces transformation in the 21st century: a case of Lithuania

The article aims to reveal how the changing international environment, Lithuania’s membership in NATO and the reform of its National Defense System influence the development of the Lithuanian military and to what extent the latter corresponds to the general trends in the development of the militaries in NATO countries. In the first part, the Charles C. Moscos model of the transformation of the society and the military from modern to postmodern which is applied in the comparative analysis of the development of the armed forces in Western democracies is presented. This part deals with the trends in changes of the armed forces of NATO countries in the period after the Cold War and collapse of the communist system. In the second part of the article, variables of the Moscos model are used as a theoretical basis to discuss the trends in the changes of the Lithuanian military. Attempts are also made to determine the extent to which the changes in the Lithuanian armed forces correspond to similar processes in the old NATO countries and what problems Lithuania faces having become a member of NATO