The Two Canals and NATO’s Wild Cards in the Ponto-Baltic Isthmus
The Two Canals and NATO’s Wild Cards in the Ponto-Baltic Isthmus

Summary/Abstract: The Russian Federation’s recent buildup of A2/AD forces in Crimea andKaliningrad, coupled with its increasingly confronting rhetoric in the Black andBaltic Seas, pose a serious challenge for the NATO’s Eastern flank countries.Facing this challenging geostrategic context, two major infrastructuredevelopments ‒ Kanal Istanbul in case of the Black Sea, respectively VistulaSpit canal in case of the Baltic Sea ‒ may represent a game changer for thesecurity environment in the Ponto-Baltic Isthmus in the near future. This paperdiscusses the Central and Eastern Europe countries driving narrative behind theexpected operationalisation of these two canals and outlines their potentialcontribution to NATO’s enforcement of credible security guarantees in thePonto-Baltic Isthmus.

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