NATO and Russia’s Security Dilemma Within the European Union’s Far Neighbors

Abstract

This paper presents a viewpoint for NATO and Russia’s security dilemma by analyzing what happened in Georgia, Ukraine, Libya and Syria. At the end of the Cold War re-building of NATO, inheriting Missile defense System by the US government and Russia’s growing concern regarding NATO’s eastward expansion made clear that Russia will not abandon her sphere of influence. Thus, the main objective of this study is to analyze the questions of what is the motivation behind NATO’s new strategy. This will be followed by another question NATO and EU enlargement will push Russia in what direction. The hypothesis of the study is that NATO’s strategy of taking position in the areas where identified as Russia’s backyard and sphere of influence is considered as “casus belli” by Russia. Therefore, Russia, despite NATO’s involvement in the specified area, will not abandon these areas and will continue to use her energy resources and geopolitical advantages as a coercion, especially against NATO members among EU countries.