#4
New York Times
November 28, 2001
Editorial
A Russian Voice in NATO
Just a few months ago the idea of giving Russia a role in NATO management would have seemed far-fetched. The cold war was receding, but not quite that fast. Then came Sept. 11, and with it a potentially historic shift in Russia's relations with the West. Last week NATO's top official proposed a partnership with Russia that would let Moscow help shape alliance decision-making in certain areas of shared concern. It is a bold idea. While those specific areas need to be more precisely defined, combating terrorism, limiting the spread of advanced weapons and managing peacekeeping responsibilities are likely candidates.
The NATO offer, made with Washington's approval and conveyed by the organization's secretary general, Lord Robertson, is a critical step toward Russia's realignment with the West. Striking the right balance between giving Moscow a meaningful voice and preserving NATO's freedom of action on issues like military intervention and membership expansion will require complicated discussions. Though relations between NATO and Russia have improved in recent years, Moscow has had no say in NATO decision-making and has sometimes felt aggrieved by alliance policies.
In some matters that will continue to be the case. Unlike NATO members, Russia will not be able to block any policy it opposes. Washington clearly would not accept a Russian veto over NATO military action in a future European conflict like the 1999 war in Yugoslavia. New arrangements with NATO, however, could well ease Russian objections to the expansion of the alliance into the former Baltic republics of the old Soviet Union, a step likely to be considered next year. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has recently argued that if Russia's own relations with NATO improved sufficiently, Moscow's concerns about expanding the alliance would largely melt away.
NATO was born after World War II as an anti-Soviet military alliance. Since the disintegration of the Soviet empire a decade ago, NATO has been evolving in new directions and taking on responsibilities like peacekeeping in the Balkans and support for America's war against terrorism. Moscow has sent its own peacekeepers to Bosnia and Kosovo and encouraged its Central Asian allies to open airfields to American forces bound for Afghanistan.
The new arrangement under discussion would help formalize such cooperation and give Moscow the kind of decision-making role it is entitled to on issues that legitimately concern it. It would also demonstrate that Mr. Putin's efforts to cooperate with the West and his support for Washington since Sept. 11 are paying dividends in increased international influence for Russia.
Strengthened coordination between Moscow and NATO is part of a larger picture. Earlier this month, President Bush and Mr. Putin announced plans for steep cuts in offensive nuclear weapons. Though they achieved no breakthroughs on missile defense, there is still time in the months ahead to bridge their remaining differences. With patience and persistence, the two leaders have a chance to reorder relations and achieve the kind of cooperation both have declared to be their ultimate goal.
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