Closer Relations Between Russia And NATO?

The former Cold War adversaries are working together on a number of joint initiatives, although a shared lack of trust has slowed progress.

After decades of tension, NATO and Russia are working together on a series of joint initiatives that range from supplying troops in Afghanistan to fighting airline hijackings.

It is far from certain, however, that the new cooperation to fight immediate and shared threats will help the former Cold War adversaries resolve longer-standing and more fundamental differences over issues such as NATO's eastward expansion or Georgia's relations with its Russian-backed breakaway regions.

Russia, which wants to quash militancy and drug trafficking in its neighborhood, has opened a land route to resupply the 140,000-strong NATO force in Afghanistan and is discussing giving helicopters to Afghanistan's nascent air force and training its anti-drug police.

Recently, Russia and NATO launched a shared system to monitor air traffic above most of the Northern Hemisphere in case of terrorist threats. In the planning stages is a combined anti-missile defense system that would protect all participating nations.

U.S. Adm. James Stavridis, the supreme NATO commander in Europe, told The Associated Press that he would travel to Russia in the fall to discuss missile defense, Afghanistan, counter-proliferation, counterterrorism, and counter-narcotics, among other efforts.

"I am highly interested and actively pursuing zones of cooperation with Russia," he said.

But some observers warn against overplaying the significance of those initiatives, pointing out that unity within the NATO alliance itself has been fraying since the dissolution of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact nearly two decades ago, which was its only true military rival.

"There are so many splits within NATO and so much of NATO policy has devolved to the member states that I'm not sure whether these improving relations with the alliance mean anything tangible to Russia," said George Friedman, who heads the global intelligence company Stratfor.

Other observers also note that despite the increasingly close ties, an element of distrust still lingers over the relationship.

By: Shelldrake