Buffer Zone
완충지대
A buffer zone is a state or region situated between rival or potentially hostile great powers, intended to reduce the danger of direct conflict or invasion. After World War II, the Soviet Union built a zone of friendly regimes in Eastern Europe as defensive space against the West, and its military alignment was institutionalized by the founding of the Warsaw Pact in 1955.
In depth
A buffer zone is not identical to a neutral buffer state. A buffer state normally seeks to preserve independence and neutrality, whereas several Eastern European countries during the Cold War were incorporated into a Soviet sphere of influence as satellite states. The concept therefore helps analyze both the strategic aim of creating geographic defensive depth and the political reality of constructing a sphere of influence through friendly regimes.
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) (defines a buffer state as a country between rival great powers and distinguishes it from satellite states)
- britannica.com (supports the post-1945 Eastern European buffer zone protecting Soviet military interests and the Warsaw Pact's codification of the alignment)
- ebsco.com (supports Soviet efforts after World War II to establish a defensive buffer and friendly regimes in Eastern Europe, 1943–1948)