Russia's position in the international security system in the post-Cold War era.

Ewa Rucinska
ewarutka@aol.com

Since the end of bipolar world and collapse of Soviet Union, Russia has been perceived neither as a main threat to international peace, nor a potential focus of total nuclear war. In the multipolar world, however, new problems referring to Russia position in international security system have emerged. On the one hand Russia has supported negotiations to make further cuts in strategic nuclear weapons.

On the other hand, poorly safeguarded Russian nuclear weapons constitute menace to international security. After the end of Cold and dismantling the Warsaw Pact, enlargement of NATO seemed to be inevitable, and consequently three countries from former Soviet bloc (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland) became NATO members. Russia has expressed many objections toward NATO expansions, therefore, developing NATO's relations with Russia have remained issue of big importance in international security system. Another significant question refers to Russia's involvement in collective conflict management. In addition, Russian international policy toward autonomous regions (two wars in Chechnya in last decade) has the impact on her international affairs.

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Last updated on April 06, 2000