NATO AND THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION – FROM FUNCTIONAL COOPERATION TOWARD NEW TENSIONS

Funkcionalna suradnja NATO-a i Ruske Federacije u suvremenim međunarodnim odnosima je nužna, ali zbog još uvijek obostranog nepovjerenja i natjecateljski postavljenih ciljeva teško se ostvaruje. Autorica polazi od prikaza i analize postojećih odnosa suradnje ta dva aktera oko globalnih pitanja (borba protiv terorizma, krijumčarenje droga i narkotika, elementarne nepogode, obuka afganistanskih sigurnosnih snaga) najvećim dijelom operacionaliziranih u Afganistanu. Potom prikazuje prostor Arktika kao prostor na kojem se NATO i Ruska Federacija tek interesno pozicioniraju. Globalni izazovi sigurnosti (klimatske promjene, sigurnost transportnih ruta, eksploatacija energenata) ponovno mogu približiti stavove ta dva aktera, ali iz dosad poduzetih akcija autorica zaključuje da će i taj prostor biti poprište konfrontacija. Na kraju analizira dva osnovna problema (raketni štit u Europi i daljnje širenje NATO-a) koji su od završetka Hladnog rata pa do danas glavni problemi u odnosima NATO-a i Ruske Federacije. Bez obzira na trenutnu ukrajinsku krizu očito je da će se i budući odnosi NATO-Ruska Federacija paralelno odvijati na dva kolosijeka: funkcionalnoj suradnji i odnosima hladnog mira.Functional cooperation between NATO and the Russian Federation is a necessity within the contemporary international relations. However, due to a lack of mutual trust which is still being felt and competitively set objectives of both players, such cooperation is sometimes difficult to achieve. Author starts by presenting and analyzing the existing examples of cooperation between the two states on global issues (fight against terrorism, drug trafficking, natural disasters, training of security forces in Afghanistan) – most of which is taking place in Afghanistan. She continues by elaborating on the situation in the Arctic territories where both NATO and the Russian Federation are just starting to position their interests. Again, it is the global challenges to security that might bring the positions of the two players closer in this area (such as climate changes, safety of transport routes, energy exploitation), but based on their activities so far the author concludes that this area might also become an area of confrontation. Finally, the author analyses two major issues (missile defense in Europe and further NATO enlargement) that have been principal problems in NATO-Russia relations ever since the end of the Cold War. Regardless of the current crisis in Ukraine it is apparent that future relations between NATO and the Russian Federation will continue on two parallel tracks: functional cooperation on one, and “cold peace” on the other