The Czech Republic has made a significant contribution to the War on Terrorism relative to its size. It deployed a nuclear/biological/chemical (NBC) defense unit in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and a field hospital in support of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. When the U.S. intervened in Iraq, the Czechs moved their field hospital from Afghanistan to Basra and deployed an NBC unit to Kuwait. Both the field hospital and the NBC unit have now returned home. Currently, the Czechs are supplying a civilian-military cooperation unit and approximately 150 military police to Iraq. They are also providing more than a dozen experts to the CPA. The Czechs are training Iraqi diplomats in Prague and sent 10 Czech law enforcement officials to train Iraqi police in Jordan. In April 2004, the Czech government expects to deploy 120 Special Forces troops to OEF in Afghanistan, and 15 specialists to ISAF.

The Czech Republic became a member of NATO on March 12, 1999. A major overhaul of the Czechoslovak defense forces began in 1990 and continues in the Czech Republic. Czech forces are being downsized from 200,000 to approximately 50,000, and at the same time reoriented toward a more a more mobile, deployable force structure. The Czechs have made good progress in reforming the military personnel structure, and a strong commitment to English-language training is paying off. Compulsory military service is scheduled to end December 31, 2004. Public support for NATO membership remains around 50%-60%. The Czech Government currently spends about 2% of GDP on defense. This puts Czech defense spending on a par with the European NATO average.

The Czech Republic has good to excellent relations with all of its neighbors, and none of its borders are in question. The Czech Republic is a member of the UN and OSCE and has contributed to numerous peacekeeping operations, including IFOR/SFOR in Bosnia and KFOR in Kosovo, as well as Desert Shield/Desert Storm.