Back to the Future?
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200906400206 |
| Author | Luca Ratti |
| Published date | 01 June 2009 |
| Date | 01 June 2009 |
| Subject Matter | NATO at 60 |
Luca Ratti
Back to the future?
International relations theory and NATO-Russia relations since
the end of the Cold War
| International Journal | Spring 2009 | 399 |
This article evaluates different theoretical frameworks for understanding
both the nature of the NATO alliance and the evolution of NATO-Russia
relations since the end of the Cold War. It argues that the evolution of
relations between the alliance and Moscow is best accounted for by the realist
analytical perspective, while liberal and social-constructivist perspectives fail
to capture the most important aspects of the alliance. Despite the
establishment of the NATO-Russia Council in 2002, a balance-of-power
logic, dictated by an international system that has remained to a large extent
anarchical, continues to shape relations between the alliance and Moscow.
The article proceeds in four sections. It begins with a short summary of
NATO-Russia relations since the end of the Cold War. It then lays out the
main theoretical frameworks that have been used to explain relations
between the alliance and Moscow: liberal, social-constructivist, and realist
ideas about—and prescriptions for—NATO-Russia relations. The next
section a pplies all sets of perspectives to the record of key post -Cold War
Luca Ratti is lecturer in the history of international relations at Rome 3 University; he also
teaches international relations at the American University of Rome. He would like to thank
Alan Dobson and Steve Marsh for their valuable comments and suggestions.
| Luca Ratti |
| 400 | Spring 2009 | International Journal |
NATO-Russia relations. The article concludes with a section explaining why
realism is the strongest explanatory paradigm.
NATO-RUSSIA RELATIONS DURING THE 1990S
Although during the Cold War, and particularly in the period of détente,
NATO had shown it could adapt to the evolution of east-west relations, the
collapse of the USSR in December 1991 marked the beginning of a new and
uncertain phase in the alliance’s history. Many scholars and decision-makers
alike saw in the disappearance of the original catalyzing threat, which had led
to west European calls for a US defence commitment to Europe in 1947, the
risk that the alliance might soon become obsolete—unless its members were
able to craft a new role for NATO. While the failed Soviet conservatives’ coup
in August 1991 served as a warning that NATO’s original purpose could not
be completely disposed of, western leaders were swift to recognize the need
for a rapid update in this institution’s role. The declaration on a “transformed
North Atlantic Alliance” that was adopted by the North Atlantic Council in
London in July 1990, while reaffirming the basic principles on which the
alliance rested, also identified a first set of initiatives aimed at reforming
NATO’s role in post-Cold War Europe. At its Rome summit in November
1991, the alliance adopted a new strategic concept in which, alongside
restating the defence dimension, prominence was also given to economic,
social, and environmental issues. In addition, the new strategic concept
envisioned a peacekeeping role for NATO outside the borders of its member
countries. These changes reflected a consciousness that, unless the alliance
was willing to reform, it risked drifting towards gradual irrelevance and
marginalization.1
The efforts to revitalize the alliance and assert its relevance in the post-
Cold War international system also kicked off a new phase in relations with
Moscow. After the end of the Cold War, Russian decision-makers expected
NATO somehow to atrophy and championed the emergence of a new
European security structure; at the same time, however, they did not reject
the alliance’s offer of cooperation and declared their identification and wish
to align with the west. After the establishment in December 1991 of the
North Atlantic Cooperation Council to discuss issues of common concern
between NATO and former Soviet bloc states, Moscow joined the newly
1 The Rome declaration and the strategic concept adopted by the alliance in November
1991 are available at www.nato.int.
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