NATO & the Issue of Russia

Since the end of the Cold War, both NATO and the European Union (EU) have evolved along with Europe's changed strategic landscape. The evolution of NATO and the EU, however, has generated some friction between the U.S. and several of its allies, including Russia. This book focuses on the Russian side of this growing estrangement. It finds the Russian roots of this ambivalence in the increasingly visible manifestations of an autocratic and neo-imperial Russian state and foreign and defense policy. These strong trends in Russian policy inhibit the formation of a genuine security partnership that can provide for Eurasian security in the face of multiple contemporary threats. It is debatable whether Russia really wants a comprehensive partnership with NATO. Its military political elite still views NATO and the United States in adversarial terms, even though its leadership speaks positively about the value of this partnership. Recent U.S. military initiatives like missile defense or the wars in Kosovo and Iraq are leading Russia to entertain thoughts of withdrawing from many of the existing European arms control treaties. Although NATO is actively pursuing Russian participation in many projects, Russian officials and firms either cannot or will not make the best use of such opportunities. These problems, examined in this book, similarly appear in regard to military operations and exercises. Even though numerous exercises involving NATO and Russian forces take place, the atmosphere remains one of mistrust.