Has Russia’s Anti-NATO Agenda Succeeded?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Stopping NATO enlargement has become a clear foreign policy priority for Russia. Given the diminished likelihood of Ukrainian and Georgian membership, Russia’s anti-NATO agenda may appear as an unqualified success. However, the net impact of Russia’s anti-NATO foreign policy agenda is quite mixed. Ukraine's and Georgia's stakes for accession have increased and key European NATO members' hesitancy to provoke Russia unnecessarily is clear, but Russia's actions have not prevented progress toward accession in other candidate countries, while the appeal of membership actually has increased in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe.