07-09-2010, 09:21 AM
Think tank offers Kremlin script of entry into NATO
The Institute of Contemporary Development (INSOR), a Moscow-based nonprofit think tank affiliated with current Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who heads INSOR's board of trustees, has submitted a report on expanded Russia-NATO relations.
Several options, including Moscow's accession to the alliance, are stipulated. Analysts say the latter scenario is absolutely unrealistic in the short term and propose simply modifying the format of bilateral cooperation.
The report, called "Prospects for Expanded Russia-NATO Relations," advocates three options for expanded Russia-NATO relations: Moscow's complete integration into the alliance, accession on the basis of a bilateral strategic security treaty or the establishment of a coordinating international organization council.
The last option calls for merging other influential international organizations, including the European Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and possibly the UN, with NATO. The report stipulates no deadlines for implementing these scenarios.
"Dmitry Medvedev has the report and is expected to read it in the near future," an INSOR spokesperson noted. INSOR representatives are to present the report's main points on September 9 at a political forum in Yaroslavl.
INSOR Director Igor Yurgens said the institute had advocated a plan for Russia-NATO rapprochement for a long time. The current report lists several scenarios, including ones based on confrontation and peaceful cooperation.
He declined to say which plan was the most feasible. "Everything will depend on the situation in Russia and proposals regarding the alliance's transformation, due to be made at the NATO summit in Lisbon this December," Yurgens said.
Analysts do not believe in rapid Russia-NATO rapprochement. "Such rapprochement is possible but will not happen soon," said Vladimir Yevseyev, a military analyst with the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO).
"There are too many disagreements in our current relations. Europe still cannot forgive us for the conflict with Georgia over South Ossetia, and we have misgivings about the European missile defense system and the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty," Yevseyev said.
Other analysts believe that Russia has been methodically preparing to join NATO and is implementing a military reform for that purpose. "In the next few years, Israeli and NATO weapons will account for 30% of the Russian Army's weaponry," said Leonid Ivashov, President of the Academy on Geopolitical Affairs."
"The conversion to the brigade system, purchases of foreign equipment and joint military exercises all aim to facilitate adaptation to the NATO system," Ivashov said.
Ivashov quoted Yurgens as saying that Medvedev was the first modern Russian leader who did not consider the break-up of the Soviet Union as a disaster and whose policy aimed to integrate Russia into the system of Euro-Atlantic security and to ensure its accession to NATO.
Kommersant
http://en.rian.ru/papers/20100906/160483620.html
The Institute of Contemporary Development (INSOR), a Moscow-based nonprofit think tank affiliated with current Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who heads INSOR's board of trustees, has submitted a report on expanded Russia-NATO relations.
Several options, including Moscow's accession to the alliance, are stipulated. Analysts say the latter scenario is absolutely unrealistic in the short term and propose simply modifying the format of bilateral cooperation.
The report, called "Prospects for Expanded Russia-NATO Relations," advocates three options for expanded Russia-NATO relations: Moscow's complete integration into the alliance, accession on the basis of a bilateral strategic security treaty or the establishment of a coordinating international organization council.
The last option calls for merging other influential international organizations, including the European Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and possibly the UN, with NATO. The report stipulates no deadlines for implementing these scenarios.
"Dmitry Medvedev has the report and is expected to read it in the near future," an INSOR spokesperson noted. INSOR representatives are to present the report's main points on September 9 at a political forum in Yaroslavl.
INSOR Director Igor Yurgens said the institute had advocated a plan for Russia-NATO rapprochement for a long time. The current report lists several scenarios, including ones based on confrontation and peaceful cooperation.
He declined to say which plan was the most feasible. "Everything will depend on the situation in Russia and proposals regarding the alliance's transformation, due to be made at the NATO summit in Lisbon this December," Yurgens said.
Analysts do not believe in rapid Russia-NATO rapprochement. "Such rapprochement is possible but will not happen soon," said Vladimir Yevseyev, a military analyst with the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO).
"There are too many disagreements in our current relations. Europe still cannot forgive us for the conflict with Georgia over South Ossetia, and we have misgivings about the European missile defense system and the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty," Yevseyev said.
Other analysts believe that Russia has been methodically preparing to join NATO and is implementing a military reform for that purpose. "In the next few years, Israeli and NATO weapons will account for 30% of the Russian Army's weaponry," said Leonid Ivashov, President of the Academy on Geopolitical Affairs."
"The conversion to the brigade system, purchases of foreign equipment and joint military exercises all aim to facilitate adaptation to the NATO system," Ivashov said.
Ivashov quoted Yurgens as saying that Medvedev was the first modern Russian leader who did not consider the break-up of the Soviet Union as a disaster and whose policy aimed to integrate Russia into the system of Euro-Atlantic security and to ensure its accession to NATO.
Kommersant
http://en.rian.ru/papers/20100906/160483620.html