– NATO...Are Its Final Days Just Ahead

Russians Consider NATO as Hostile
Angus Reid Global Monitor

The number of people in Russia who believe the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is not friendly with their country has increased over the past decade, according to a poll by the Yury Levada Analytical Center. 56 per cent of respondents think NATO is hostile towards Russia, up 12 points since 1997.

NATO was originally formed in 1949 as an agreement of collaboration designed to prevent a possible attack from the Soviet Union on North America or Western Europe during the Cold War. In March 2004, NATO added seven more nations, six of which were once members of the Warsaw Pact-a military alliance of Eastern European Soviet countries. Two former Soviet republics, Georgia and Ukraine, are expected to become NATO members in the near future.

Russia began to actively cooperate with NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The NATO-Russia council was established in 2002, in an effort to exchange information on terrorism and security issues.

In June 2006, Russian president Vladimir Putin questioned the expansion of NATO into former Soviet republics, declaring, "When the military structure of NATO comes close to our borders, we react. Why should this happen in this world? It's no longer a world of two systems."

This year, Russian officials have expressed dissatisfaction with a United States plan to implement a missile defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland. Putin's government has recently focused on increasing the Russian Federation's military might. This month, Russia decided to deploy strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons on long-range flights. The flights have occurred on areas that are particularly close to NATO air space.

On Aug. 27, Pavel Androsov, commander of Russia's long-range aviation, explained the exercises, saying, "We don't fly with nuclear weapons when patrolling; they are not on-board. Our jets have only the training weapons that enable to fulfill all training tasks. We are performing missions of air patrol, not of combat one."

Polling Data

The leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) claim that they are not hostile towards Russia. Which of these statements comes closer to your own point of view?

                                                                                              2007            1997

This is true, there is no need for NATO to oppose Russia         15%             25%

This is false, NATO remains hostile to Russia                          56%              44%

Hard to answer                                                                       27%              31%

Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from Aug. 10 to Aug. 13, 2007. No margin of error was provided.