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Show HINCKLEY JOURNAL OF POLITICS SPRING 2001 ing to include their former enemies is not as far-fetched as it seems. In fact, the Quadruple Alliance, used to defeat Napoleonic France, soon invited France into the alliance and became the basis of the Concert of Europe which would maintain relative peace on the continent for ninety-nine years (Henrikson 1995, 101). By inviting its former enemy into the fold, this nineteenth-century alliance kept peace in Europe because it included the interests of every major power on the continent. The development of the Quadruple Alliance into the Concert of Europe serves as the perfect precedent for how NATO can invite Russia to become part of its alliance. Furthermore, the inclusion of Russia in NATO will give the organization more legitimacy in dealing with the ongoing crises of the Balkan region. As mentioned earlier, NATO has expanded its role to include peacekeeping missions in the Balkans. The Balkans have also proven to be the most volatile region on the continent. The combination of these two elements suggests that NATO will see more action in the former Yugoslavia. This is an area where Russia can provide NATO with capabilities currently beyond its means. Since the Russians share a common Slavic and Christian Orthodox heritage, the Serbs are much more likely to negotiate with Russia than with a NATO void of Russian influence and interest. NATO must bring the capabilities of its organization in line with the challenges of the external environment it faces (Jackson & Dutkiewicz 1998, 3). In reference to the Balkans, updating its capabilities by including Russia is the most legitimate and potentially successful way for NATO to deal peacefully with the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. Furthermore, if NATO plans to expand its roles to include action in the Balkans, it must recognize that this puts the organization in conflict with the Russian sphere of influence. NATO has little choice then, but to realize that its action in the Balkans equates to a shared interest with the Russians. It is impossible for NATO to expand its defined interests into Eastern Europe and the Balkans and not recognize the Russians. The easiest and best way to diffuse the potential conflict between Russia and NATO over spheres of influence is for NATO to include Russia in its alliance. To ignore Russian interests in Eastern Europe and the Balkans is particularly short-sighted for the United States, as these areas are literally next door to Russia, while the United States is thousands of miles away. As questions arise over how best to keep NATO from becoming as awkward and bureaucratically inefficient as the UN, questions also arise about NATO conflicting with the jurisdiction of the UN. However, the UN should view NATO as a positive contributor to world stability, as NATO has allowed the UN to focus on conflicts and issues outside of Europe. As mentioned earlier, NATO has resolved conflicts between its own members-most significantly France and Germany. By taking care of its own problems, NATO has successfully reduced the potential burden on the UN. Furthermore, NATO has proven more successful than the UN in acting to halt the chaos occurring in the Balkan region. The conflict in Bosnia is the perfect example, as the UN repeatedly proved unable to act with the will needed to stop the fighting and provide relief to the war-torn region. The deployment of NATO forces in 1995 accomplished what the UN could not. Only NATO possesses command of the military forces, communications structures, strategy and intelligence to effectively act in a crisis (Jackson & Dutkiewicz 1998, 3). It can be argued that NATO has done more in its history to contribute to international peace and stability than has the United Nations (Henrikson 1995, 96). Along with accomplishing its goals in the Balkans more successfully than the UN, NATO reserves the right to intervene where its interests are threatened. Article Four of NATO's 1949 Washington Treaty clearly implies that alliance members are expected to use their partnership as a means for coordinated action in other parts of the world (Henrikson 1995, 96). Clearly, NATO members can seek to protect their collective interests in any part of the world where those interests are threatened. This provides the legal justification for NATO involvement in the Balkans. Because NATO is not defined strictly as a regional organization, it does not fall under the UN's jurisdiction to regulate regional organizations as defined in Chapter VIII, Article 53 of the UN Charter (Henrikson 1995, 97). CONCLUSIONS After analyzing NATO's current status, and American support of that status, and after examining alternative policy options for the United States, one can conclude that expanding NATO to include Russia is the best choice for United States policy makers. Current NATO expansion is viewed as a threat by the Russians and this becomes a potential danger when one realizes that Russia will not remain in its current position of weakness forever. Not expanding NATO will lead to a shortage of challenges and the lack of an ideological mission for the alliance. Committing itself to democracy in Eastern Europe, as well as peace in the Balkans, replaces the void left for NATO when the Soviet Union collapsed. Dissolving NATO will rob the United States and the other member nations of the alliance of the benefits they derive from membership in the organization. Only by expanding NATO to include Russia can the United States and the other members of NATO eliminate the cost of arming Eastern Europe against a potentially threatening Russia in the future. Only by expanding NATO to include Russia can the alliance gain the legitimacy needed to diffuse conflicts in the Balkans. Finally, history shows that European alliances have the potential to expand and operate successfully while including the interests of all major powers on the continent, suggesting that NATO does not have to become as inefficient as the UN. Expanding NATO to include its former enemy will require the support of the nations of Western Europe, not just the United States. As the strongest NATO member, howev- 81 |
