Adam Daniel Rotfeld: Resetting NATO-Russian Relations
[Adam Daniel Rotfeld is former foreign minister of Poland.]
Earlier this year, a group led by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, which included myself, issued a report on a new strategic concept called “NATO 2020.” The report recommended that NATO open its doors to new members while seeking a more constructive relationship with Russia. We outlined a dual strategy of reassuring the NATO allies that their interests would be defended while engaging with the Kremlin in a manner consistent with the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act and the 2002 Rome Declaration on the NATO-Russian relationship.
NATO needs Russia, and Russia needs NATO. The U.S. shift away from unilateralism has restored the importance of multilateral security institutions while giving NATO the chance to establish new partnerships with the European Union and Russia. In February, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the alliance’s Strategic Concept seminar in Washington that, “while Russia faces challenges to its security, NATO is not among them. We want a cooperative NATO-Russian relationship that produces concrete results and draws NATO and Russia closer together.”
Visiting Moscow that month, our NATO expert group sought to promote a rethinking of mutual perceptions. The main problem in the NATO-Russian relationship is not a lack of institutions, documents or procedures, but a lack of transparency, confidence and mutual trust. U.S. security analyst Charles Kupchan raised a pertinent question when he asked whether Russia should eventually join the alliance, pointing out that the settlements concluded after the Napoleonic wars and World War II show that alliances between former adversaries can be critical to the consolidation of great-power peace.
In other words, NATO’s strategy toward Russia must be guided by a spirit of inclusiveness. But such a strategy requires that Russia clearly demonstrate its political will to cooperate with NATO. Russia must make a choice...
Read entire article at Moscow Times
Earlier this year, a group led by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, which included myself, issued a report on a new strategic concept called “NATO 2020.” The report recommended that NATO open its doors to new members while seeking a more constructive relationship with Russia. We outlined a dual strategy of reassuring the NATO allies that their interests would be defended while engaging with the Kremlin in a manner consistent with the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act and the 2002 Rome Declaration on the NATO-Russian relationship.
NATO needs Russia, and Russia needs NATO. The U.S. shift away from unilateralism has restored the importance of multilateral security institutions while giving NATO the chance to establish new partnerships with the European Union and Russia. In February, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the alliance’s Strategic Concept seminar in Washington that, “while Russia faces challenges to its security, NATO is not among them. We want a cooperative NATO-Russian relationship that produces concrete results and draws NATO and Russia closer together.”
Visiting Moscow that month, our NATO expert group sought to promote a rethinking of mutual perceptions. The main problem in the NATO-Russian relationship is not a lack of institutions, documents or procedures, but a lack of transparency, confidence and mutual trust. U.S. security analyst Charles Kupchan raised a pertinent question when he asked whether Russia should eventually join the alliance, pointing out that the settlements concluded after the Napoleonic wars and World War II show that alliances between former adversaries can be critical to the consolidation of great-power peace.
In other words, NATO’s strategy toward Russia must be guided by a spirit of inclusiveness. But such a strategy requires that Russia clearly demonstrate its political will to cooperate with NATO. Russia must make a choice...