The PfP program was a U.S. initiative launched at the January 1994 NATO summit in Brussels as a way for the alliance to engage the former members of the Warsaw Pact and other former communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. In July 1994, the United States launched the Warsaw Initiative to support the objectives of the Partnership. A significantly different strategic environment marked the fourth and latest expansion, wherein NATO’s goal was to extend stability eastward into the political vacuum left after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Warsaw Initiative and Partnership for Peace Helped Prepare New NATO Members

According to the NATO delegations of the three newest NATO members, PfP assistance, of which the United States was their largest donor through the Warsaw Initiative, was invaluable to their preparation for joining NATO. To describe the cost and contents of Warsaw Initiative programs, we obtained comprehensive cost and program data by recipient country and year from DOD and State. Both studies evaluated the effectiveness of programs in terms of objectives associated with the Warsaw Initiative and the Partnership for Peace.
What GAO Found

After the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact in 1991, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and the United States sought new ways to cooperate with the political and military leadership of their former adversaries. In January 1994, NATO established the Partnership for Peace to increase defense cooperation with former Warsaw Pact members and other former communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. Supported by the United States through the Warsaw Initiative, the Partnership plays a key role in developing the capabilities of those states and reforming their defense establishments. Given the key role the Partnership for Peace has played in the transformation of NATO's relationship with these states, the significant U.S. involvement and investment in this program through the Warsaw Initiative, and the impending debate on potential NATO members drawn from the Partnership, this report (1) provides an historic overview of previous NATO accessions, (2) describes the cost and content of the Warsaw Initiative, and (3) describes the results and benefits of Warsaw Initiative programs.