NATO: Still the Beating Heart of the Transatlantic Relationship?
by Melinda Časná
The purpose of this essay is to explain, what the importance of NATO is in the global
context, how it contributes to peace building and why this international organization is
still important for us even after decades of it’s establishment. Despite the fact that our
current world lacks the main factors thanks to which the organization gained
justification, after the end of Cold War NATO gained altered importance and became a
part of a more global context than ever before. In the 21st century NATO still has to
cope with complex situations which it faces every day. It mobilizes it’s international
powers to deal with global problems, as it’s main goal is to guarantee the security that is
the foundation of our freedom, solidarity, and human rights.
Nowadays, when new threats and conflicts emerge daily led by autocratic regimes, as
we could see during last few years, such as Russia’s annexation of Crimea or the
Islamic State’s aggressive acts, I am convinced, that the importance of NATO rises day
by day and it is still a key actor in our security maintenance. These conflicts would not
be solved any time soon, and will endure for years. Our world is changing at a big scale,
what may have serious impact on our lives, so it is not just peace building what is
necessary, the most difficult task is to keep that peace.
One of these critical problems, which NATO faces, is the Islamic State’s terrorism
and barbaric violence, what threatens weak and poor countries. These countries are
struggling with ongoing political and security problems, and the growing vulnerability
of this region has its impact on the overall Euro-Atlantic security. The environment, in
which we live, is characterized by the fundamental changes which are happening in our
security. For example the war, what Ukraine faces currently is something what may
have serious implications for all the EU member states. We should realize that problems
like this have to be resolved urgently, as Russia rejects the liberal values, which should
be the guiding principle of our society, undermines our freedom and democracy thanks
to the propaganda, not just in their homeland but even abroad. We can notice this
situation mainly in the former socialistic countries as Slovakia, Czech Republic and
Hungary, where the Russian propaganda became really strong after the annexation of
Crimea. Russia denies the capitalist values of the west, and the government’s main tool
is the nationalism, what unites the society. It used economic pressure not just on
Ukraine, but even on other neighboring states as we could see in the past. By these acts
its aim is to restore the Russian sphere of influence in its neighborhood, and this may
have serious consequences for the whole Euro-Atlantic area. Russia’s denial of it’s
participation in this war provides an advantage to reach its political and military goals.
By this, the government represents an indirect strategy which helps them to avoid the
international law, and traditional diplomatic processes, and this is the main reason why
other states can not involve and intervene, because officially there is no war in Ukraine
with Russian participation.
Ukraine has already faced pressure from Russia in the past, despite the fact, that it
has not ended with a war, it’s aim was to destabilize the Ukrainian economics and turn
their political system to Russia. The main tool that time was energy, which is still a
powerful weapon in the hand of the Russian government. Ukraine is of strategic value
for Russia if we take in consideration the Eurasian Economic Union, which could be
profitable only with Ukraine, but the country has decided not to take part in this
alliance, and the annexation of Crimea has destroyed this illusion at all. Despite this,
constructive partnership with Russia would be of strategic value for the European Union
and for NATO, but conditions for this have to be established.
We are living in an uncertain world, where the security and the stability are
threatened, so we can assume NATO’s role as crucial in reestablishing the peace and
safety of the member states, by strengthening its alliances, and their own security
forces, what became an effort of key importance. As it develops prosperity and protects
the order in their partner nations, it is essential in the future to bring new members into
NATO and cooperate closely wit the European Union, as these two organizations are
representing the same liberal western values. The Ukrainian crisis have to rise the
attention of these organizations that the cooperation and mutual understanding, what
was unfortunately neglected for years, could be an assertive value of the West. The
traditional understanding of NATO is, that it should focus its power just on collective
defence, but my opinion is, that a world has fundamentally changed and this
organizationa has all its tools to counter new threats which are affecting countries even
outside the borders of Euro-Atlantic area.