It is the autumn of 1998. Hungary's democratic government, outraged at the treatment of 1.8 million ethnic Hungarians in neighboring Romania, threatens to take back the region of Transylvania by force. Bulgaria backs Romania. Farther north, Ukraine's government is shaken by an ultimatum from Moscow: Hand over all nuclear weapons or face a pre-emptive strike. Hungary and Ukraine turn immediately to their NATO allies for support.
NATO allies? Well, not yet, but the door to the Atlantic alliance is opening, and the former Warsaw Pact nations, eager to enlist, could join before the turn of the century. Sounds like a good...