The NATO’s World order, the Balkans and the Russian national interest

Abstract

This paper investigates the Russian foreign politics at the region of the Balkan Peninsula after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the time of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) World Order in relation to the Pan-Slavic ideals of intra-Slavic solidarity, reciprocity and brotherhood. The particular stress is put on relations between pro-Western and pro-Orthodox approaches of the Russian national interests among the Russian domestic political scene and their attitudes towards the Balkans. The research results are based on critical analyzes of the scientific literature and prime historical sources available for the author at the moment on the topic of the paper which is composed by five parts. A very short ideological background of the Pan-Slavic idea is presented in the first introductory part of the paper. The second part deals with historical background of the Pan-Slavism and Russia followed by Russia’s foreign policy goals. The third part deals with the internal Russia’s debates on national policy after the Cold War between the pro-western and pro-traditional forces. Russia’s relations with the West at the time of the post-Cold War NATO’s World Order in regard to the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia followed by the civil wars are the topic of the fourth section of this paper. Finally, the research gives six conclusions on the chosen topic of investigation of the paper in its fifth section.