TY - GEN T1 - NATO: Russia’s Response to Its Growing Presence AU - Patterson, Jenna AB - In the nearly thirty years since the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation has experienced a complex transition to democracy, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the implementation of shock therapy and a shift to a market economy and has dealt with numerous security threats from terrorism to international involvement in Central and Eastern Europe. This paper looks to examine the relationship between Russian security and foreign policy formation and its relationship with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In order to best understand and explain the growing instability along Russia’s western border, it is imperative that the extensive history between NATO, the former Soviet Union, and Russia be examined. This paper seeks to accomplish this by providing a brief history of NATO prior to 1991 before delving into the eras of Russian foreign policy after the Soviet Union’s collapse and how each approached Western institutions and NATO. This is followed by an evaluation of current Russian President Vladimir Putin and his public thoughts on NATO and current issues facing Eastern Europe and Russia. The goal of this research is to determine the role that NATO has played in Russian foreign policy formation since 1991 which has led to increased border defense and activity along Russia’s western border with the Baltic states and Ukraine. This paper argues that the continuation of NATO activity in the region following the fall of the Soviet Union, in conjunction with its inability to incorporate Russia into the organization, has led to decades of pushback from Russia and has most recently culminated in the implementation of Civilizationist ideology into their foreign policy development. Keywords: Russian Foreign Policy, Civilizationism, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), Expansionism, Security - European DA - 2019-3-22 PY - 2024 PB - unav N1 -

Acknowledgements:

Dr. Raluca Viman-Miller

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