BELARUS – THE BREACH POINT FROM THE NORTHEASTERN EUROPEAN BORDER
BELARUS – THE BREACH POINT FROM THE NORTHEASTERN EUROPEAN BORDER

Summary/Abstract: The “Great Disintegration”, in 1991, of the Soviet Union of Socialist Republics (USSR) “empire” has changed the hierarchy of the most powerful states in the world and has placed the United States of America (USA) on the first position. At the same time, it has sent Russia into a period of reorganization, reform and reaffirmation on the global scale. USSR’s division into twelve countries and their dropping out of the communist regime, followed by the declaration of independence for fifteen former socialist states, has significantly diminished Russia’s economic power and military strength, this being the largest state left with the legacy of the Soviet empire. Meanwhile, the US, through NATO and the European Union (EU), has started an expansion, towards the eastern part of the European continent and through this, it has begun a border repositioning of the strongest states, to the detriment of a Russia that is not able to reorganize and fails to respond to the wave of accessions to the two western organizations/alliances. Almost a quarter of a century after the “great disintegration”, the situation is beginning to change. Russia is responding more and more aggressively to NATO challenges and to the economic sanctions imposed by the US and EU and intervenes with force, conquering areas that provide strategic advantages (see the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula). EU’s eastern border is under constant pressure from Russian search and recognition aircraft and under the threat of the ballistic missiles and other modern forms of warfare (electronic warfare, hybrid warfare) developed by the Russian Federation. Furthermore, Belarus represents a vulnerable spot which can be a gateway, a breach point for Russian forces to get into the heart of Europe.

• Details
• Contents