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Authors: Vadim Lukov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to
the Kingdom of Belgium (participates in the project in his personal capacity);
Greg Austin, Vice President of the EastWest Institute;
Ortwin Hennig, Vice President of the EastWest Institute;
Vladimir Baranovsky, Deputy Director, Institute of World Economy and International
Relations (IMEMO), Russian Academy of Sciences
THIS ARTICLE PRESENTS the key proposi-
tions of a report, entitled Euro-Atlantic Security:
One Vision, Three Paths, that was prepared by a
group of authors under the aegis of the EastWest
Institute.
The idea of writing this report emerged in a situ-
ation that, to put it mildly, was not conducive to a
grand scientific and political debate over Euro-
pean security issues. Even though the cannonade
in South Ossetia had already died down, a full-blown diplomatic exchange of fire continued
between the West and Russia over the Caucasus war.
The participants in the projects were confronted with a challenging question: How, in such
an emotionally and politically tense atmosphere, to organize a joint study that would result
not in yet another declaration of disagreements, but in concrete, constructive proposals
of a short-term as well as a long-term nature?
With that end in view, a decision was made right from the start to refrain from making any
lists of complaints on either side. The project was focused on identifying the long-term
shared interests of Russia and her Western partners in the Euro-Atlantic space, as well as
ways of pursuing these interests.
The result was a document offering elements of a common strategic vision of security in
the Euro-Atlantic region and a panorama of possible lines of action paths.
The decision to resume the full-scale operation of the Russia-NATO Council, which was
made at the RNC meeting in Corfu, is a very positive step.
We are satisfied to say that the work of the Experts Group has not been wasted.
It has been proposed also to continue the current review of the cost-effectiveness and po-
litical repercussions of planned national ballistic missile defense deployments in Poland
and Czech Republic as well as consider possible joint missile threat monitoring and, if the
need arises, joint missile defense.
Arguments for this approach: The status quo in Europe and unilateral attempts at changing
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Euro-Atlantic Security: A Path to the Future