NATO-Russia relations in the context of the baltic defense plan

This thesis examines the impact of the Baltic Defence Plan on NATO-Russia relations and the international system. In this study, the question 'What has been the impact of the Baltic Defence Plan on NATO-Russia bilateral relations and the international system? The relations between NATO, the defence organisation of the Western world, and Russia, which claims to be a great power, have turned into a war of hegemony over a multi-actor and strategic region. In this power struggle involving many actors, the region has been analysed from a military, security, geopolitical and strategic perspective. The changing security policies in the process of NATO-Russia relations, which were strained by the Baltic Defence Plan and further escalated with the Russia-Ukraine war, were analysed. It has been analysed how the Baltic States and Poland have shaped the regional power affecting NATO-Russia relations. The main argument of this study is that the Baltic Defence Plan was a turning point in NATO-Russia relations. NATO's Eastern European expansion policy and its co-operation with the Baltic States initiated a new era in the international system and in relations with Russia, the main threat that led to the formation of NATO. It has been argued that this new era has changed the goals in the global dimension, security perception and defence policies.