A great geopolitics game and contemporary security environment of the Balkans

Unatoč tome što postoje brojne definicije pojma Balkana i balkanskog prostora, taj pojam sam po sebi je vrlo složen te se njime bave discipline kao što su politička geografija i geopolitika, ali i brojni autori iz tog područja, koji pokušavaju dati preciznu teritorijalnu definiciju balkanskog prostora. U međunarodnim političkim odnosima Balkan ima važnu stratešku poziciju, iako se često poistovjećuje s brojim krizama i sukobima koji su se odvijali na tom prostoru, te zbog toga nosi negativan predznak. Tako Balkan označava mjesto prijelaza između Istoka i Zapada Europe te kao takav postaje mjesto sukoba isprepletenih geopolitičkih i geostrateških interesa velikih igrača u geopolitičkoj igri velikih sila – Rusije i Sjedinjenih Američkih Država. U suvremenom sigurnosnom okruženju, Balkan se, osim toga što je mjesto sukoba interesa dviju velikih sila i što se nalazi na razdjelnici između Washingtona s jedne, i Moskve s druge strane, suočava i sa mnogobrojim drugim problemima, od kojih je najvažniji problem sigurnosti u suvremenom svijetu, odnosno pojava terorizma i migracija. Taj problem stavlja u drugi plan sebične interese Rusije i Amerike, koje još uvijek nemaju kvalitetna rješenja kao odgovor na nove izazove s kojima se suočavaju Balkan, ali i cijela Europa. Ciljevi ovog rada su definiranje pojma Balkana i njegovo značenje u suvremenom geopolitičkom i strateškom smislu, prikaz američkih i ruskih interesa na Balkanu. Posljednji cilj je definiranje stava SAD-a i NATO-a nasuprot Rusije, te uzroci zbog kojih dolazi do zaoštravanja odnosa među silama i zaokreta u ruskoj vanjskoj politici. Dakle u kontekstu suvremenih geopolitičkih odnosa možemo govoriti o trokutu na relaciji odnosa između SAD-a, Europe i Rusije, odnosno o prostoru Balkana kao faktoru stabilnosti ili nestabilnosti u tom odnosu. Kao glavni problem velikih sila na Balkanu, uključujući i Tursku možemo dakle istaknuti političku nestabilnost. U radu je dokazana glavna teza da je Balkan novo-staro, središte sukoba između velikih igrača u geopolitičkoj igri velikih sila u suvremenom sigurnosnom okruženju.Despite the fact that there are many definitions of the Balkans, the term itself is very complex and it is engaged in a variety of disciplines such as political geography and geopolitics, but also a number of authors form this area, who are trying to give an accurate territorial definition of the Balkan region. In the international political relations Balkans has an important strategic position, although it is often identified wiht the numerous crises and conflicts that took place in this area, and therefore carries a negative sign. So, Balkans means a place of transition between East and West Europe, and as such became the scene of conflict intertwined geopolitical and geostrategic interests of the big players in the geopolitical game of the great powers – Russia and the United States. In today' security environment, the Balkans, in addition to being a place of conflict of interest of two great powers, and that is the dviding line between Washington on the one hand, and Moscow on the other hand, faced with countless other problems, of which the most important is issue of security in the modern world and the phenomenon of terrorism and migration. That problem put aside selfish interests of Russia and America, which still do not have quality solutions in response to new challenges faced by the Balkans, but also the whole of Europe. The objectives of this study were to define the notion of the Balkans and its meaning in the contemporary geopolitical and strategic terms, see the American and Russian interests in the Balkans. The last objective is to define the attitude of the United States and NATO versus Russia, and of the reasons for coming to the worsening of relations between the forces and shift in Russian foreign policy. So in the context of contemporary geopolitical relations, we can talk about the triangle between the relationship between the United States, Europe and Russia and of the Balkans as a factor of stability or instability in that respect. As the main problem of the big powers in the Balkans, including Turkey we can therefore highlight the political instability. The paper has proved the main thesis that the Balkans is new, the old, the center of conflict between the major players in the geopolitical game of the great powers in the contemporary security environment