Russlands forhold til NATO og EU - på vei mot et sikkerhetsfellesskap?

Russia’s relations with European and Euro-Atlantic institutions have been significantly strengthened since the end of the post-Cold War period. President Putin’s Western orientation in foreign policy, and NATO’s and the EU’s commitment to building a partnership with Russia, have contributed to this development. Moreover, the terrorist attacks against the United States on 11 September 2001 led to a rethinking of security priorities both in Russia and in the West and strengthened the integrationist trends. The establishment of the NATO-Russia Council in May 2002 was based on the existence of common threats such as global terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and regional instability. Based on Karl W. Deutsch’s 1957 concept of a “security community”, reconceptualized by Emanuel Adler and Michael Barnett in 1998, the report presents an analysis of Russia’s relations with NATO and the EU after the Cold War. Particular emphasis is put on “transaction density” trends, and on the degree of “mutual responsiveness”. Finally, the report analyses the prospects of a Russian-Western security community.