The North Atlantic Alliance and the security challenges in 
the Wider Black Sea Region. Present and future Cover Image

The North Atlantic Alliance and the security challenges in the Wider Black Sea Region. Present and future
The North Atlantic Alliance and the security challenges in the Wider Black Sea Region. Present and future

Author(s): Ioan Codruţ Lucinescu
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Economy, Geopolitics
Published by: Regional Department of Defense Resources Management Studies
Keywords: The Wider Black Sea Region; NATO; Russia; security challenges;

Summary/Abstract: As a strategic intersection connecting the Middle East, Eurasia and Europe, the Black Sea Region appears to be one of the world’s critical crossroads. The Ukrainian crisis has prompted deep concerns among Atlantic community, shedding a new light on the strategic relevance of the Black Sea region to Europe's security. Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014 has furthermore demonstrated the poor degree of readiness of the euro-Atlantic community to deal with asymmetric challenges and covert actions.Washington, whose interests have been defined by State Secretary Hillary Clinton, as turned toward the Pacific, aimed to operate a historical shift from the focus on the defense of the Old Continent to the competition with China over the Asia-Pacific stage. The Ukrainian crisis and the subsequent worsening of Russia-West relations is nevertheless likely to re attract Washington in the region. The study aims to address the core issues of security in the Wider Black Sea Region, by focusing on the regional changes determined by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Also, the use of hard power as a defining instrument of the Russian foreign policy imposes the need for NATO, and implicitly Romania, to adapt its security policies in accordance with the new security challenges.

  • Issue Year: 11/2016
  • Issue No: 11
  • Page Range: 176-183
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: English