Abstract:

By choosing to support the United States in the war on terrorism following the September 11 attacks, President Putin has changed the state of play concerning the future of NATO. Without a doubt, the first round of enlargement, which included Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, had a negative impact on relations between Russia and the West, paving the way for a profound disagreement approaching confrontation over the Kosovo crisis. But in either case, Moscow's view did not prevail. Drawing the lessons from these setbacks, Russia, without favouring any continuation of NATO's enlargement, has concentrated its efforts on the candidacies of the three Baltic states. Putin wanted to avoid this issue having any effect on his efforts to bring Russia closer to the West, compensating the prospect of NATO advancing toward the Baltic by political success in Ukraine, Moldovia and other countries in the CIS. But in the new strategic context, opened by September 11, making Russia a true ally of the West, by integrating it in the post-cold war security structures could well be what is at stake.


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