North Atlantic Council
Topic Area B
Strengthening cooperation between NATO and
Russia
Prologue
Delegates,
Before I begin with the study guide on the second topic area of our agenda, I would like to remind you
of a few things. This guide is here to help you with your research, but most of all it is here to help you
understand how to look at the present matter. On a subject as vast as this, it is easy to be lost by the plethora
of the information, or waste your time researching minor details. The study guide is indeed here to help you
cope. But under no circumstances should it replace your personal research on your countries’ policies. I am not
offering you any solutions whatsoever to the matter discussed. It might give you the general outline, but your
own personal work on your countries’ positions is substantial and priceless for the progress of our committee
work. So I would advise you to have a quick look at the study guide, use it during your research, and produce
your position paper with a true adherence to your state’s opinions on the matter. Thank you for your time!
A brief history of the Russian State and today’s Russian Federation
Russia never really needed a detailed description, due to the fact that whether it was a Grand Duchy, a
tsardom, an empire, or simply the largest constitutionally socialist state, it always played a major role on world
politics. Nevertheless, to understand the current culture and philosophy of the Russian people, it’s vital to take
a quick look back to their roots, and their long history. I trusted Wikipedia for this purpose:
The history of Russia begins with that of the East Slavs. The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus',
adopted Christianity from the Byzantine Empire in 988, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures
that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated as a state, finally
succumbing to Mongol invaders in the 1230s. During this time a number of regional magnates, in particular
Novgorod and Pskov, fought to inherit the cultural and political legacy of Kievan Rus'.
After the 13th century, Moscow gradually came to dominate the former cultural center. By the 18th century,
the Grand Duchy of Moscow had become the huge Russian Empire, stretching from Poland eastward to
the Pacific Ocean. Expansion in the western direction sharpened Russia's awareness of its separation from much
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of the rest of Europe and shattered the isolation in which the initial stages of expansion had occurred.
Successive regimes of the 19th century responded to such pressures with a combination of halfhearted reform
and repression. Russian was abolished in 1861, but its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to
the peasants and served to increase revolutionary pressures. Between the abolition of serfdom and the
beginning of World War I in 1914, the Stolypin reforms, the constitution of 1906 and State Duma introduced
notable changes to the economy and politics of Russia, but the tsars were still not willing to relinquish
autocratic rule, or share their power.
The Russian Revolution in 1917 was triggered by a combination of economic breakdown, war weariness, and
discontent with the autocratic system of government, and it first brought a coalition of liberals and moderate
socialists to power, but their failed policies led to seizure of power by the Communist Bolsheviks on October 25.
Between 1922 and 1991, the history of Russia is essentially the history of the Soviet Union, effectively an
ideologically based state which was roughly conterminous with the Russian Empire before the Treaty of BrestLitovsk. The approach to the building of socialism, however, varied over different periods in Soviet history, from
the mixed economy and diverse society and culture of the 1920s to the command economy and repressions of
the Stalin era to the "era of stagnation" in the 1980s. From its first years, government in the Soviet Union was
based on the one-party rule of the Communists, as the Bolsheviks called themselves, beginning in March
1918. However, by the late 1980s, with the weaknesses of its economic and political structures becoming acute,
the Communist leaders embarked on major reforms, which led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The history of the Russian Federation is brief, dating back only to the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991.
Since gaining its independence, Russia was recognized as the legal successor to the Soviet Union on the
international stage. However, Russia has lost its superpower status as it faced serious challenges in its efforts to
forge a new post-Soviet political and economic system. Scrapping the socialist central planning and state
ownership of property of the Soviet era, Russia attempted to build an economy with elements of market
capitalism, with often painful results. Even today Russia shares much continuity of political culture and social
structure with its tsarist and Soviet past.
It is quite obvious that the Russian Federation hasn’t existed for long as a democracy. On the contrary, the
country has a long tradition of autocratic leaderships. Even today’s regime is frequently criticized by western
democracies for an alleged democratic deficit, rending the communication problems between the North
Atlantic Council and Russia even greater.
Regarding today’s Russian Federation, there are some basic elements that you should take under consideration
concerning Russia. First of all, it is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. It shares borders
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with the following countries (from northwest to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and
Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and
North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan (by the Sea of Okhotsk) and the United States (by the
Bering Strait). At 17,075,400 square km (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is by far the largest country in the world,
covering more than a ninth of the Earth’s land area. Russia is also the ninth most populous nation with 142
million people 1. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 11 time zones and
incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. It has the world's largest reserves of mineral and
energy resources 2, and is considered an energy superpower 3. It has the world's largest forest reserves and its
lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's unfrozen fresh water 4. Furthermore, Russia has the
world's eighth or ninth largest economy by nominal GDP or the sixth largest by purchasing power parity, with
the eighth largest nominal military budget or third largest by PPP. It is one of the five recognized nuclear
weapons states and possesses the world's largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction 5! It is also a
permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the G8, G20, APEC, SCO and the
EurAsEC, and is a leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is thus made clear not only
that Russia is not a force to be toyed with, but also that there are various interests that a state needs to take
under consideration when dealing with Russia. At a time of increased concern over energy security, Moscow
has more than once reminded the rest of the world of the power it wields as a major energy supplier. In 2006,
it cut gas to Ukraine after a row between the countries, a move that also affected the supply of gas to Western
Europe. 6 So even if its status as world power is questioned, no one dares to argue Russia’s role as a regional
major power. Not a small feat if we take under account the state’s size and the number of neighborhooding
countries.
NATO
This chapter is for those that are not that familiar with the organization.
1
2
3
"The Russian federation: general characteristics".
Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007. ""Russia"
CNN, “Russia; A superpower rises again” by Simon Hooper December 2006.
CNN; “Eye on Russia: Russia's resurgence” by Matthew Chance June 2007
4
5
6
Library of Congress. "Topography and Drainage”
"Status of Nuclear Powers and Their Nuclear Capabilities”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1102275.stm
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NATO consists of twenty-eight members: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece,Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom,
and the United States 7.
Britain's Lord Ismay, NATO's first secretary-general
Formed in 1949 to counter the threat of post-war communist expansion as the Soviet Union sought to
extend its influence in Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is the world's most powerful regional
defense alliance. It has traditionally stated its general aim as being to "safeguard the freedom, common
heritage and civilization" of its members by promoting "stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area" 8.
Article 5 of the Washington Treaty -- that an attack against one Ally is an attack against all -- is at the core of
the Alliance, a promise of collective defense. Article 4 of the treaty ensures consultations among Allies on
security matters of common interest, which after 60 years have expanded from a narrowly defined Soviet
threat to the critical mission in Afghanistan, as well as peacekeeping in Kosovo and new threats to security such
as cyber attacks, and global threats such as terrorism and piracy that affect the Alliance and its global network
of partners 9.
But it should not be forgotten for the sake of our committee that NATO did start as a defense
mechanism against the soviet threat. NATO was set up in the post-World War II atmosphere of anxiety, largely
to block Soviet expansion into Europe. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and subsequent demise of the
Warsaw Pact, therefore, left NATO with no obvious purpose.
7
8
9
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/nato_countries.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1549072.stm
http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rt/nato/
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Since then NATO has used its defensive role to justify a more proactive approach to "out of area"
activities - arguing that instability in any part of Europe would constitute a
threat to its members.
Thus, at the end of 1995, for the first time ever, it organized a
multinational Implementation Force (IFOR), under a United Nations
mandate, to implement the military aspects of the Bosnian peace
agreement.
In 1999 the alliance launched an 11-week campaign of air strikes
against Yugoslavia to push Serb forces out of Kosovo. The strikes were the
largest military operation ever undertaken by NATO, and the first time it had
used force against a sovereign state without UN approval. A 16,000-strong
NATO peacekeeping force remains in Kosovo 10.
The US made up part of the NATOled force in Bosnia
In 2003 NATO took its operations outside Europe for the first time when it assumed strategic command
of the UN-mandated peacekeeping force in and immediately around the Afghan capital, Kabul. So, in addition
to its traditional role in the territorial defense of Allied nations, NATO leads the UN-mandated International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and has ongoing missions in the Western Balkans, the
Mediterranean, and Iraq; it also conducts extensive training exercises and offers security support to partners
around the globe, including the European Union in particular but also the United Nations and the African
Union 11.
NATO and Russia: old foes, brand new allies: the NRC
10
11
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1549072.stm
http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rt/nato/
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By now we have seen the two entities individually, and their
respective past and present. It is now crucial to also comprehend the
relationship between them, and how it formed.
It is already mentioned that NATO was actually conceived as defense
to the then presence encompassing the Russian territory, the USSR. But
since there was never a real confrontation between the two worlds, it
Russia's President Putin at a
mostly played a deterrent role, as a shield for the near-by European
NATO-Russia summit
countries. The first big reaction to it was in 1955 when West Germany joined
NATO; the Soviet Union and eight Eastern European states responded by
forming the Warsaw Pact. After that, the events that interest us are all near the collapse of the eastern bloc: in
1990 NATO and Warsaw Pact states sign the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe treaty (CFE) and publish a
joint declaration on non-aggression. But in 1991 with the fall of the USSR, the Warsaw Pact is dissolved; NATO
sets up the North Atlantic Cooperation Council as a forum for consultations between NATO members, East
European states and the former Soviet republics 12.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO embarked on a series of steps designed to
build new relationships with former Warsaw Pact countries and particularly with Russia, which was profoundly
suspicious of the alliance's plans to expand eastwards.
In 1994 it offered former Warsaw Pact members limited associations in the form of the Partnership for
Peace program, allowing them to participate in information sharing, joint exercises and peacekeeping
operations. But this simply appeared to confirm Russian fears that NATO posed a creeping threat to its security.
So the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council was established in May 1997 to give Russia a consultative role in
discussion of matters of mutual interest. While Moscow was given a voice, it rarely felt that it was really
listened to.
Russia's fears intensified when in 1999 the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland became the first
former Soviet bloc states to join NATO, bringing the alliance's borders 400 miles closer to the Russian frontier.
The 11 September 2001 attacks on targets in the US are widely seen as a pivotal moment for NATO.
Russia's supportive reaction following the attacks proved to be the catalyst for a thaw in relations with
Moscow. The establishment of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) was agreed in May 2002. You can find
information about it on http://www.nato-russia-council.info/htm/EN/index.shtml. This body gives Russia an
equal role with the NATO countries in decision-making on policy to counter terrorism and other security
threats.
12
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1543000.stm
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However, the relationship with Russia continues to be problematical. Russia was not very pleased that
the NATO expansion of early 2004 - when seven new states were admitted - meant that the alliance had
reached its borders.
After that there existed two major crises:
In 2007, the then President Vladimir Putin suspended the application of a key Cold War arms control treaty, in
response to the creation of a missile defense system in Poland and Czech Republic. The 1990 Conventional
Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE) limits the number of heavy weapons deployed between the Atlantic Ocean and
the Urals mountains. It was one of the most significant arms control agreements of the Cold War years. It set
strict limits on the number of offensive weapons - battle tanks, combat aircraft, heavy artillery - that the
members of the Warsaw Pact and NATO could deploy in Europe, stretching from the Atlantic to the Urals. In
the wake of the collapse of communism, the treaty was revised in 1999, in part to address Russian concerns.
But this revised treaty has never been ratified by the NATO countries, who wanted Russia to withdraw all of its
forces from two breakaway regions with Russian-speaking majorities - Abkhazia in Georgia and Trans-Dniester
in Moldova 13.
Putin signed a decree citing "exceptional circumstances" affecting security as the reason for the move,
having been angered by the US plans to base parts of a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech
Republic. He said missile shield in Europe would see through entire Russia's defenses all the way to the Urals;
Russia sought to counter that, but the treaty stood very much in the way. Second, NATO countries did fail to
ratify the treaty's 1999 amended version, a failure that Putin insisted upset the balance of forces in Europe 14.
For their part, NATO countries held their view that the amended version required that Moscow withdraw
troops from Moldova and Georgia, which hadn't been completed.
The suspension was not a full-scale withdrawal, but it did mean that Russia would no longer permit inspections
or exchange data on its deployments.
Moscow also threatened to counter the plans by the US Bush administration to develop an anti-missile
system in Eastern Europe with its own missiles in Kaliningrad Region on Poland's borders 15.
13
14
15
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6898690.stm
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1643566,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1102275.stm
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International Student Model United Nations. All Rights Reserved.
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Relations with Russia took a marked turn for the worse after the brief Russo-Georgian war of August
2008. NATO had deferred discussion of Georgian (and Ukrainian) membership until December, but announced
that cooperation with Russia would be suspended until Moscow pulled all its troops out of Georgia.
The relations between the Russian and US leaderships, and subsequently, NATO, became less
confrontational after Barack Obama assumed the US presidency in January 2009, and NATO announced in
March 2009 that it would be resuming high-level contacts with Russia 16.
So here we are today, in an in-between phase in the nato-russian relations. The prospect certainly
looks much more positive than two, or even more, one year ago. But now it is time for the Allies to calculate
again the basis of their relationship with Russia. The facts and figures are thoroughly changed, and we must
adapt to these changes, and the new power balance.
There are some basic questions that you should have answered before entering the committee room.
First of all,
•
Why? Why bother so much to strengthen our alliance with Russia? What do we have to win as
members of NATO and as individual states?
•
What’s stopping us from doing so? What are the obstacles that we meet today when we try to
approach Russia? Is it only a matter of trust, or do we also face conflicting interests?
•
How are we going to overrun these obstacles? What are some possible methods that we can
use? Are there any solutions to the problems we face? How are we going to achieve better
communication?
To give you ideas and the general concept, for example the why could be answered in million ways. A
balanced political scenery, the end to the mistrust we inherited from the generations of the Cold War, the need
to ally to face the emerging threats. A new direction for NATO, away from the reasons of its creation, a new
reason to exist. The reality of a globalized world. Interdependence.
16
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1549072.stm
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Also some obstacles: the already mentioned mistrust, the Russian democratic deficit, the
power correlations. The recent crises. Russia’s tendency to secrecy, which barricades the country against the
west, and blocks mutual understanding. Try to be creative and add to these lists!
Also never forget the importance of geographical criteria concerning your countries: it is inevitable that the
neighbor countries of Russia have different points of view from the western democracies, which also
differentiate from the Balkans or Turkey. And of course, the United States are a whole different chapter. That is
all from me, and I hope to see you soon in thessisMUN. Enjoy your research, because the topic is indeed
extremely interesting, and leaves you space to actually produce your own policies. Good luck.
Your President,
Evelina Pagkalou
Bibliography
•
“The Russian federation: general characteristics”
http://www.gks.ru/scripts/free/1c.exe?XXXX09F.2.1/010000R
•
Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007. ""Russia"
•
CNN, “Russia; A superpower rises again” by Simon Hooper December 2006.
•
•
CNN; “Eye on Russia: Russia's resurgence” by Matthew Chance June 2007
Library of Congress. "Topography and Drainage”
http://countrystudies.us/russia/23.htm
•
“Status of Nuclear Powers and Their Nuclear Capabilities” http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/summary.htm
•
BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1102275.stm
•
NATO http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/nato_countries.htm
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Strengthening cooperation between NATO and Russia © 2010 by University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece, for Thessaloniki
International Student Model United Nations. All Rights Reserved.
www.thessismun.org
•
BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1549072.stm
•
US Department of State http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rt/nato/
•
BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1543000.stm
•
BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6898690.stm
•
TIME http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1643566,00.html
Annex
The following article has been published on December, and will probably be old news by the time you
read this paper. But it shows very clearly the attitude of Russia towards NATO until 2009. Focus on the
mentioning of “demonstrating true partnership” and even more on the phrase of president Medvedev that
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“the European Security Treaty is needed to replace Cold War-era institutions ill-suited to defusing tensions in a
multi-polar world”. How could this stance affect our Council?
Russia Warns NATO Over Afghan Cooperation 17
By REUTERS
Published: December 1, 2009
Filed at 11:31 a.m. ET
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia's envoy to NATO expressed frustration on Tuesday at the military alliance's unwillingness to
discuss Moscow's proposals for European security and said it could affect prospects for increased cooperation on
Afghanistan.
Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin accused some NATO countries of blocking Moscow's calls for a Russian security plan to be
discussed in the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), a body in which the two sides discuss cooperation.
Speaking hours before an address in which U.S. President Barack Obama was expected to announce plans to send more
troops to Afghanistan, he said this would not affect cooperation that has already been established with NATO over
Afghanistan.
But he told a news briefing: "We cannot be flexible on expanding our cooperation on Afghanistan when certain countries in
NATO cannot demonstrate even the most basic partner-like relations."
"We are going to make a link between new requests from NATO with the need to demonstrate on their side true
partnership...I believe I will have full support from Moscow on that," he said.
17
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/12/01/world/international-us-russianato.html?_r=2&scp=4&sq=russia%20nato&st=cse
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Rogozin made his comments after he met NATO ambassadors to prepare for a meeting on Friday between alliance foreign
ministers and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
NATO states have said they are willing to discuss the Russian proposals, but that the correct forum to do so is
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe(OSCE).
Rogozin said it was still desirable for Friday's meeting to go ahead and that there were other issues to be discussed.
"We should not over-dramatize the situation," said NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero, saying a compromise could be
reached.
Russia's security proposal, published on Sunday, would restrict its ability to use military force unilaterally if the United States
and its European allies agreed to do the same.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said the European Security Treaty is needed to replace Cold War-era institutions illsuited to defusing tensions in a multi-polar world.
His proposals have received a skeptical reception in Western states which say it should not undermine NATO or the OSCE.
NATO-Russia ties have warmed since a freeze after Moscow's brief war with Georgia in 2008, and Russia has agreed to allow
transit of NATO supplies to Afghanistan.
It has held out the prospect of expanding this agreement as well as offering to train Afghan forces and to refurbish former
Soviet bloc helicopters that could be deployed to Afghanistan.
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