engleski

Croatian Policy Towards the NATO Enlargement to the Western Balkans

This paper analyzes Croatia's policy towards NATO enlargement in the Western Balkans. After the Cold War, NATO has undergone major changes, which included organizational and strategic adjustments to new conditions in international relations, as well as the expansion to new countries. These processes can be viewed as an effort aimed at positioning NATO as inevitable actor in global security processes on the one hand, and at widening the trans-Atlantic security community on the other. Its actions in the post-Cold war period have not been limited to the territory of the Member States only (collective defence), but have been predominantly carried out in the wider environment in which conflicts occurred (collective security). One such area was the Western Balkans, where NATO had decisive impact on stopping the conflict and the establishment of peace and stability. This was particularly true in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. NATO enlargement to the countries of Southeast Europe has significantly affected the improvement of the security situation in the region. NATO membership of Croatia, Albania and eventually Montenegro serve as the case in point. Croatian position is specific, not only due to its geo-strategic position, but also because of its special interest in stability and Euro-Atlantic perspective of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The paper is based on the hypothesis that the expansion of NATO to the countries of the Western Balkans has had positive impact on the stability and security of the region, which is why Croatia strongly advocates further NATO enlargement to the rest of the countries of the region (to those which declared NATO membership as their foreign and security policy objective). This hypothesis will be elaborated through the analysis of NATO strategic documents and Croatian foreign and security policy, especially those parts that are related to the Western Balkans.

NATO enlargement ; Croatia ; Western Balkans ; security community ; security policy

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