Authors

Tomasz Stepniewski²; Andrzej Szabaciuk²; Zygula Alicja¹;  ¹ The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland;  ² Institute of Central Europe and The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland

Discussion

Russia’s armed conflict with Ukraine, ongoing since 2014, has created conditions for Russia to revise the balance of power in Eastern Europe, and even the international order established after the Cold War. The aim of this proposed paper is firstly to show Ukraine, in a highly synthetic way, as a state at a crossroads but simultaneously a key state in terms of Russia’s interests in the post-Soviet area, then the motives for Russia’s redrawing the post-Cold War international order, taking into account the location and role of Ukraine. We are also trying to find the answer on some research questions: Will Russia’s revisionist policy result in NATO’s revitalization? Is NATO thinking strategically as far as Eastern Europe is concerned? Does a rationale for a change of Eastern Europe’s security condition (a “grey zone” of security) exist? Will the Russian Federation succeed in revising the USA-dominated post-Cold-War international order by means of the Ukrainian conflict?
But while there is much to parse in this situation, our proposed paper will focus specifically on the question of NATO’s evolving strategy towards Eastern Europe in light of the post-2014 (especially post-February 2022) Ukrainian conflict. As such, two principle dimensions will be considered: NATO’s responses to Russia military deployments post-2014 (and 2022), and Russian responses to NATO.