The November 2022 edition of the IRMO Brief, authored by Monika Begović, deals with the relations between the North Atlantic Alliance and Russia since the end of the Cold War till the present day. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO had launched a number of initiatives, including the Partnership for Peace in 1994, to enhance cooperation with East European countries and Russia. However, with the enlargement of NATO to countries in East Europe, which in 2004 included the accession of three Baltic States, Russia became wary. In April 2008 at the Bucharest Summit NATO member states had failed to include Ukraine and Georgia to the membership action plan, and subsequently Russia become more assertive. Four months later Russia invaded Georgia, and in 2014 annexed Crimea and lunched the war in Donbas, starting the era of new adversity with the West. The author provides an analysis how assistance of NATO member states, led by the US, in providing military and financial aid to Ukraine is of crucial importance in repelling the ongoing Russian aggression.
Monika Begović, PhD, is President of the Atlantic Council of Croatia and Secretary General of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA), based in Zagreb, Croatia.
