CONSEQUENCES OF THE REALIZATION OF NATO STRATEGY IN THE CONFLICTS OF "THE ARAB SPRING" FOR THE STATES OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

• Published in: MGIMO Review of International Relations
• Main Author: E. A. Antyukhova
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: MGIMO University Press 2016
• Subjects: «the arab spring»; world politics; nato strategy; international conflicts; geopoliticalalignment of forces; external factors; political conflicts; International relations; JZ2-6530; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2016-2-47-118-124; https://doaj.org/article/56ef60bf7a434230b461b7cf470ce9e6

The article considers the consequences of the realization of NATO strategy in the conflicts of "the Arab spring" for the states of the Middle East and North Africa. It is pointed out that the main approaches to the realization of NATO strategy, its results and the consequences of the Alliance crisis management of "the Arab spring" have a contradictory character. On the one hand, the strategic problem of the block has been realized: arrangement of conflicts and an attempt to appear in the opinion of the world community as the only peacekeeping force capable of controlling and resolving regional conflicts. At the same time the Alliance has shown the efficiency of its partner programs. The high quality performance of the military forces of NATO has been confirmed. The North Atlantic Alliance has started moves towards strengthening its own positions in the region under the auspices of assistance in democratization of Arab states by supporting protest performances. On the other hand, the members of the Alliance have very specifically approached the realization of tasks of settlement of the conflicts. As a result, in the majority of the countries of the Arab world the conflicts not only have not been settled but, on the contrary, in a number of cases have intensified. One of the main consequences of the realization of NATO of its approaches to settlement of the events of "the Arab spring" was the export of "instability" which entailed radical changes in the geopolitical situation in the Middle East region. The geopolitical configuration of all the Middle Eastern area has changed. Some diffusion of the territorial activity of certain states (Iraq, Libya, Syria) is observed. In the course of the Arab crisis there appeared new ethnic (Kurdish) and territorial ("The Islamic State") enclaves. More and more countries are found to be involved in the conflict.