A new security architecture for Europe? Russian proposal and western reactions
After the disbandment of the Warsaw Pact, Russia pinned its hopes on the dissolution of NATO and on the OSCE becoming the major regional security organisation in the Euro-Atlantic area. However, taking advantage of Russia’s weakness, NATO went through several enlargement rounds, even incorporating parts of the former Soviet Union. Russia has now recovered and considers that the era of unipolarity is giving way to a “polycentric international system”. The war in Georgia and the financial crisis have demonstrated that sufficient critical mass has been achieved to transform the international system. Russia is proposing to fix de jure the political commitments undertaken with in the OSCE and the NATO-Russia Council. Russia wants a legally binding document, a European Security Treaty. The question is to what extent this is in the interest of the West.
(Photo credit: NATO HQ, Flickr)