Back to square one? The Russia–NATO conflict

More and more Cold War power dynamics can be seen in Europe. Yet again – we are reminding that the “End of History” thesis of Fukuyama couldn’t be more wrong – compare the article  here. Below is a kind of chessboard illustrating the current NATO vs. Russia conflict.

There are just over 17,000 nuclear weapons worldwide, and only about 500 of those are held by countries other than NATO members and Russia. Even during peaceful years, this region remains potentially the most dangerous place on Earth. And instability between the two great powers is rising.

The confrontation between NATO and Russia – bases and nukes on both sides.

NATO and Russia Forces and conflict zones

Regional conflicts – backed by larger forces

Crimea and eastern Ukraine are just the newest hot spots along a larger, continent-wide fault line. The border between NATO-allied Europe on one side and Russia on the other side is dotted with herds of instability – including several separatist regions that Moscow and its allies support. One reason for this support is that Russia wants to keep this regions in the own influence zone. The EU for example doesn’t allow countries with border conflicts to become members. So the Russian strategy here is to artificially create such border conflicts to make sure these countries can’t join Western organisations. Also, it is a strong signal to other countries that have to decide between the planned, Moscow-controlled Eurasian Union (EEU) and the EU or NATO (=become pro-Western).

Additional articles and resources

• Russian Airforce most modern in Europe soon
• Comparison of Russian and US military aircraft
• The history of passenger fighter jet rides
• The future of military aviation – will UAVs displace fighter jets anytime soon?
• Sukhoi T-50 PAK FA – A Copy of the US F-22?