With friends like these--

the long version

The author argues that Romania was indeed a defiant state, and it was actually the Soviet propaganda machinery that cultivated the notion that Romania was a loyal fraternal socialist state indulging in demonstrative politics for public and international consumption. This book reveals a geopolitical pattern that transcends ideological sources of foreign policy making. It reveals a persistent pattern of international relations in the region that is based on territorial aspirations motivated by security concerns and justified by nationalism.