In June 2008, President Dmitry Medvedev first floated the idea for a new, broader structure for European-Atlantic security. The Kremlin turned the idea into a concrete proposal Nov. 29 when its web site posted a 14-article draft document titled “The European Security Treaty.” Under the motto of “From Vancouver to Vladivostok,” Medvedev’s treaty attempts to encompass, among others, NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Not surprisingly, the West has reacted to the security treaty skeptically at best. At worst, many in the West interpret Medvedev’s proposal as an attempt to restore its lost global influence, if not its empire.
Medvedev’s initiative was the logical continuation of the Kremlin’s foreign policy that was sharply articulated by then-President Vladimir Putin at the Munich Conference on Security Policy in February 2007. During his speech, Putin said, “Security for each is security for all,” and that the model of a unipolar world in the 21st century is not only unacceptable but impossible. In Moscow’s opinion, any unilateral action — whether in the former Yugoslavia or Iraq — only creates new problems.
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