Стр. 6 - V

Author : Marcelo Bezerra
Political scientist, journalist, postgraduate student, Institute of Latin America, Russian Academy of Sci-
ences
THE EPICENTER of the earthquake that
shatters Ukraine is located far beyond its
dilemma of economic integration with the Eu-
ropean Union or the Eurasian Union headed by
Russia. The international dimension of this cri-
sis concerns the defense and security issues or,
to be more exact, the North Atlantic Treaty Or-
ganization's expansion to the east of Europe so
that to tip the balance of power with Russia.
This time NATO's persistent efforts at the bor-
ders of Russia produced two important events
- an armed opposition in pro-Russian Donbass and reunification of Crimea with Russia, an event
of historic consequence. This means that the project NATO is realizing in Ukraine as part of
its security doctrine destabilized European security. The true nature of the "defense" concept,
a component of the widest spectrum of global relations in the security area, has been thus clar-
ified.
Are there common features between the Ukrainian crisis and far-away Latin America? These
features would not have been obvious without the crisis caused by NATO's expansionist project
to pursue its aims far outside Eastern Europe. The problem stems from the fact that in the
twenty-first century NATO became a structure of varied interests and global ambitions stretching
far beyond the responsibility zone as outlined in its Charter.
NATO's persistent attempts to spread along Russia's geopolitical borders suggest that some time
in future its members will not stop at spreading toward South America. Attempts of this sort
have been already made. Repercussions will not be as dramatic as in Ukraine but, in the long-
term perspective, no less destructive.
TWO ASPECTS of NATO's policies stand apart in South America and attract a lot of attention:
first, the security doctrine of NATO that has already caused concerns in South America and
elsewhere in the world.
This approach includes very meaningful references to other security threats such as "key envi-
ronmental and resource constraints, including health risks, climate change, water scarcity and in-
creasing energy needs will further shape the future security environment in areas of concern to
NATO and have the potential to significantly affect NATO planning and operations."
The new NATO doctrine relied, in particular on NATO-2020: Assured Security, Dynamic En-
gagement prepared by a group of experts headed by former secretary of state Madeleine Albright
to be discussed at the Lisbon Congress.
Электронное приложение к журналу «Международная жизнь»
Are There Limits to NATO's Expansion?