De-Facto Russian Membership Signals the End of NATO

De-Facto Russian Membership Signals the End of NATO
by David T. Pyne, Esq., Columnist and Legal Analyst

June 3, 2002

Columnist David Pyne Earlier this week at the heavily guarded NATO summit in Rome, the NATO Council of 20 voted unanimously to make Russia its newest partner country. This landmark agreement grants de-facto NATO membership to Russia via its participation in a newly established NATO-Russia Joint Council. The agreement brings Russia into NATO's decision-making structure, which due to the fact that all of the alliance's decisions must be unanimous, grants Russia veto power over most of NATO decisions except those relating to its "mutual defense" role and admission of new members. According to the terms of this agreement, the new council will set joint policy on a fixed range of issues, including counter-terrorism, controlling the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, theater missile defense, peacekeeping, and management of regional crises, civil defense, military cooperation and arms control. The rationale for Russia's admittance into NATO's highest decision making councils was to make NATO's expansion eastward more palatable to Russia and to reward President Putin for his assistance to the US in its war against the Taleban in Afghanistan. The PRC state-owned press was united in congratulating Russia for its new agreement with NATO granting it a veto over most of the alliance's decisions, while Russian officials pledged to continue to increase military and security cooperation and coordination with Communist China.

De-facto Russian membership in NATO grants Russia added power and prestige in furtherance of Mr. Putin's overall objective of enhancing its claim to being the preeminent power on the Eurasian subcontinent and increasing its ability to influence and have a greater say in determining the course of world affairs. Rather than require Russia to become an actual member of NATO to obtain the privilege of exercising a veto on most of the alliance's key decisions, Russia is granted a special relationship with NATO signified by the creation of the NATO-Russia Joint Council under this agreement, not given to any other country. This new arrangement grants Russia many of the rights, but none of the responsibilities of NATO membership.

NATO's other member states will likely continue to be held to a higher standard of conduct than Russia, which continues to provide Iran with nuclear technology, has formed a union state with an unrepentant Communist dictator in Belarus, has signed an alliance with the world's most populous and still-Communist country aimed against the United States and is in the process of extinguishing its last free press outlets to prevent criticism of Russia's President. While President Putin's repression at home and abroad has worsened, President Bush and other Western leaders have chosen to turn a blind eye to Russian genocide in Chechnya and mute their past criticisms in the interest of forming an alliance with Russia against terrorism.

In anticipation of the implementation of this agreement, Russia set up a new office at NATO headquarters a couple of weeks ago, expanding upon its previous liaison office which has been dominated by hard-line and suspicious Russian Army and military intelligence officers since its inception. In fact, it was Russia's senior liaison officer, a lieutenant general, who was selected to command the Russian lightning advance to capture the Pristina airport before NATO in June 1999. The stationing of such hard-line Russian army officers and spies at NATO HQ is unlikely to change with this agreement and will continue to pose a serious security risk to the alliance.

NATO is in the midst of a profound transformation from a once anti-Communist military alliance oriented to defend Western Europe from Russian attack to an increasingly pan-European "common house" collective security arrangement long advocated by both the Soviets and the Russians. Russian President Putin alluded to this development with his telling first remark at the founding meeting that perhaps the new NATO-Russia Joint Council should be renamed "the House of Soviets." The Soviet Union and now Russia have sought the neutralization of NATO for half a century and with this new agreement allowing a de-facto Russian veto in virtually all NATO decisions, Russia finally seems poised to succeed where the USSR failed.

While Russia cannot exercise a veto over the admission of additional members to the alliance, now that it is on the inside and has finally succeeded in transforming NATO from a military alliance into a mere political grouping similar to the United Nations whose only military role consists of staffing peacekeeping operations, it no longer has any real incentive to oppose new members. This new arrangement is not without its critics within NATO. Janusz Onyszkiewicz, a former Polish defense minister, told the Warsaw Voice newspaper that Russia might use its new influence to paralyze NATO decision-making, cause internal conflicts, and stifle cooperation between the alliance and former Soviet countries.

Russia's new place at NATO will potentially allow it to have access to NATO's most closely guarded secrets as well as its military plans and operational deployments. Even NATO's plans for counter-terrorist operations could be compromised by Russia to our adversaries. Russian and NATO interests are at least as likely to clash in the future as they are to agree. NATO decisions continue to require unanimity, which will be increasingly difficult to achieve with the diverse interests represented by Russia and its former Eastern European allies. Russia's new role as a de-facto NATO member will allow it to pit members of the alliance against each other and thus undermine the effectiveness of NATO in furtherance of Russia's national interest.

President Bush should repudiate the Rome Declaration that ratifies this agreement to form a partnership between Russia and NATO where the Russians will be able to exercise a veto on the vast majority of NATO decisions and use their influence to divide the alliance. NATO should return to its original mission of acting as a defensive alliance designed to protect its members against aggression perpetrated by a foreign power. The security risks to including Russia as a de-facto member of the alliance far outweigh the benefits and will continue to do so until it truly democratizes and elects a leadership, which does not include members of the former Soviet KGB and Communist nomenklatura elite. ***

David T. Pyne, Esq. is a national security expert who works as an International Programs Manager in the Department of the Army responsible for the countries of the former Soviet Union and the Middle East among others. He is also a licensed attorney and former Army Reserve Officer. In addition, he holds an MA in National Security Studies from Georgetown University. Mr. Pyne currently serves as Executive Vice President of the Virginia Republican Assembly. He is also a member of the Center for Emerging National Security Affairs based in Washington, D.C. Mr. Pyne serves as a columnist for American-Partisan.com, OpinioNet.com and America's Voices. He is also a regular contributor for Patriotist.com. In addition, his articles have appeared on Etherzone.com and AmericanReformation.org.

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