Ukraine''s NATO Aspirations (1994-2009)

• Main Authors: Der-Yang Chia, 賈德揚
• Other Authors: 蔡政文
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/08196434632590590687

碩士 === 臺灣大學 === 政治學研究所 === 98 === Ukraine, formerly the Ukrainian SSR, declared independence in 1991 but has yet to achieve integration with either the CIS or the EU. The author considers recent developments concerning its efforts to join the NATO alliance to be crucial in deciding the country’s future and the geopolitics of Eastern Europe and beyond. This thesis seeks to assess the conception and implementation of Ukrainian policy and the ultimate failure to obtain a NATO Membership Action Plan in 2008. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has been transforming itself from a purely defensive alliance to a regional security organization that operates “out of area” and promotes western ideas such as democracy and market economy. NATO operations in conflict areas such as Kosovo and Afghanistan and its enlargement since the incorporation of the former GDR have challenged relations between Moscow and Washington as well as Paris and Berlin. The Ukrainian bid for membership in NATO not only strained relations between Russia and the US, but also divided NATO as most Western European countries blocked its application in Bucharest in 2008. What caused the failure was not only Ukraine’s position as an ill-prepared country with considerable political and economic problems, but also its security environment and its position as the bulwark between NATO and Russia. The author will attempt to analyze the reasons behind the failed 2008 bid and assess the future possibilities of Ukrainian membership in NATO.