Accelerated expansion of NATO into the Balkans as a consequence of Euro-Atlantic Discord

The Balkans in general and post-Yugoslav countries in particular have been under significant geopolitical pressure of the political West since the end of the bipolar global order. From the beginning of the Yugoslav Civil War in 1991, followed by Western recognition of secessionist republics in 1992...

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Autores principales:	S. Gajić, E. G. Ponomareva
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN RU
Publicado:	MGIMO University Press 2020
Materias:	balkans expansion of nato russia serbia serbs eu albanian question International relations JZ2-6530
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/0e74b784b1fe4347a583456c80963634
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:0e74b784b1fe4347a583456c809636342021-11-23T14:50:42ZAccelerated expansion of NATO into the Balkans as a consequence of Euro-Atlantic Discord2071-81602541-909910.24833/2071-8160-2020-2-71-70-93https://doaj.org/article/0e74b784b1fe4347a583456c809636342020-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.vestnik.mgimo.ru/jour/article/view/1480https://doaj.org/toc/2071-8160https://doaj.org/toc/2541-9099The Balkans in general and post-Yugoslav countries in particular have been under significant geopolitical pressure of the political West since the end of the bipolar global order. From the beginning of the Yugoslav Civil War in 1991, followed by Western recognition of secessionist republics in 1992 and NATO attacks on Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1994-1995 and on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, the US, NATO and EU have been actively involved in the Balkan crisis. It was in concordance with the logic of unipolarity, or the New World Order, proclaimed by George W.H. Bush, in which there is “no substitute for American leadership”.The year of 2008 marked the start of profound changes. The changes we are witnessing today are of the magnitude described by Paul Kennedy’s classic The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia crossed Russia’s red lines and exposed the latter’s ambitions to regain the superpower status; China symbolically showed the same ambition with the Olympics in Beijing; the crash of the US real-estate market triggered the global economic crisis; and the NATO-sponsored unilateral declaration of secession by Kosovo Albanians set a precedent and introduced uncertainty in international law and the entire system of United Nations. By the beginning of 2020, many problems had accumulated in the EU – against the background of the ongoing migration crisis, right-wing and nationalist movements became more active, and differences between members increased. Long before COVID-19, Brexit became a serious stress test for the economy and social structure of the European Union. Dramatic changes took place on the other side of the Atlantic too, resulting in the shocking victory of staunch anti-globalist Donald Trump. The rules established during the 1991-2008 unipolarity have thus been challenged. Subsequently, post-Cold War ideological consensus in the West has also been challenged even further by the growth of non-systemic political movements – many of them directed not only against the EU expansion, but also against the EU itself.The significance of all these events for the Balkans is somewhat surprising and paradoxical, as the mainstream forces that have been weakened in the West forcefully push for a stronger Atlantic integration of the remaining Balkan countries. At the height of the pandemic, on 27 March 2020 Northern Macedonia became the 30th member of the Alliance, having previously undergone a humiliating procedure of changing its own name for this purpose. Three years earlier, Montenegro was admitted to NATO, but its population did not have the opportunity to vote on this in a referendum. The negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina on ‘normalisation of relations’, continued pressures on the prerogatives of Republic Srpska, Croatian initiative for a new Intermarium and many other similar efforts are stages in the process of NATOisation of former Yugoslavia. Based on the analysis of a large body of narrative sources and recent literature, the article presents the main trends and possible prospects for developments in the Balkans, depending on the outcome of the ongoing ideological and political struggle within the West.S. GajićE. G. PonomarevaMGIMO University Pressarticlebalkansexpansion of natorussiaserbiaserbseualbanian questionInternational relationsJZ2-6530ENRUVestnik MGIMO-Universiteta, Vol 13, Iss 2, Pp 70-93 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN RU
topic	balkans expansion of nato russia serbia serbs eu albanian question International relations JZ2-6530
spellingShingle	balkans expansion of nato russia serbia serbs eu albanian question International relations JZ2-6530 S. Gajić E. G. Ponomareva Accelerated expansion of NATO into the Balkans as a consequence of Euro-Atlantic Discord
description	The Balkans in general and post-Yugoslav countries in particular have been under significant geopolitical pressure of the political West since the end of the bipolar global order. From the beginning of the Yugoslav Civil War in 1991, followed by Western recognition of secessionist republics in 1992 and NATO attacks on Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1994-1995 and on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, the US, NATO and EU have been actively involved in the Balkan crisis. It was in concordance with the logic of unipolarity, or the New World Order, proclaimed by George W.H. Bush, in which there is “no substitute for American leadership”.The year of 2008 marked the start of profound changes. The changes we are witnessing today are of the magnitude described by Paul Kennedy’s classic The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia crossed Russia’s red lines and exposed the latter’s ambitions to regain the superpower status; China symbolically showed the same ambition with the Olympics in Beijing; the crash of the US real-estate market triggered the global economic crisis; and the NATO-sponsored unilateral declaration of secession by Kosovo Albanians set a precedent and introduced uncertainty in international law and the entire system of United Nations. By the beginning of 2020, many problems had accumulated in the EU – against the background of the ongoing migration crisis, right-wing and nationalist movements became more active, and differences between members increased. Long before COVID-19, Brexit became a serious stress test for the economy and social structure of the European Union. Dramatic changes took place on the other side of the Atlantic too, resulting in the shocking victory of staunch anti-globalist Donald Trump. The rules established during the 1991-2008 unipolarity have thus been challenged. Subsequently, post-Cold War ideological consensus in the West has also been challenged even further by the growth of non-systemic political movements – many of them directed not only against the EU expansion, but also against the EU itself.The significance of all these events for the Balkans is somewhat surprising and paradoxical, as the mainstream forces that have been weakened in the West forcefully push for a stronger Atlantic integration of the remaining Balkan countries. At the height of the pandemic, on 27 March 2020 Northern Macedonia became the 30th member of the Alliance, having previously undergone a humiliating procedure of changing its own name for this purpose. Three years earlier, Montenegro was admitted to NATO, but its population did not have the opportunity to vote on this in a referendum. The negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina on ‘normalisation of relations’, continued pressures on the prerogatives of Republic Srpska, Croatian initiative for a new Intermarium and many other similar efforts are stages in the process of NATOisation of former Yugoslavia. Based on the analysis of a large body of narrative sources and recent literature, the article presents the main trends and possible prospects for developments in the Balkans, depending on the outcome of the ongoing ideological and political struggle within the West.
format	article
author	S. Gajić E. G. Ponomareva
author_facet	S. Gajić E. G. Ponomareva
author_sort	S. Gajić
title	Accelerated expansion of NATO into the Balkans as a consequence of Euro-Atlantic Discord
title_short	Accelerated expansion of NATO into the Balkans as a consequence of Euro-Atlantic Discord
title_full	Accelerated expansion of NATO into the Balkans as a consequence of Euro-Atlantic Discord
title_fullStr	Accelerated expansion of NATO into the Balkans as a consequence of Euro-Atlantic Discord
title_full_unstemmed	Accelerated expansion of NATO into the Balkans as a consequence of Euro-Atlantic Discord
title_sort	accelerated expansion of nato into the balkans as a consequence of euro-atlantic discord
publisher	MGIMO University Press
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/0e74b784b1fe4347a583456c80963634
work_keys_str_mv	AT sgajic acceleratedexpansionofnatointothebalkansasaconsequenceofeuroatlanticdiscord AT egponomareva acceleratedexpansionofnatointothebalkansasaconsequenceofeuroatlanticdiscord
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Accelerated expansion of NATO into the Balkans as a consequence of Euro-Atlantic Discord

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