Balkan policy of NATO in the post-cold war era

As a result of the new international system which has been emerged with the end of the Cold War, NATO needed a new reason of existence-raison d'être. The disintegration of the Yugoslavia, and the ethnic conflicts in the Balkans were crucial developments for providing this new reason. In this research, NATO's policies towards Balkans in the post-Cold War era have been examined. These policies have been investigated with a special focus on NATO's enlargement policy, interventions, and power struggle with Russian Federation over the Balkans. The aim of this study is to evaluate NATO's stabilization policy in the Balkans and to interpret relations between NATO and Balkan countries. Having reasserted its power after 2000's, Russia has become a major threat to NATO's Balkan policies. On the other hand, NATO's enlargement policy towards the Balkans, and its pro-active policy over the territory have disturbed Russian Federation since Balkans have always been regarded as a vital region for Russia not only for the Slavic kinship ties but also for its geopolitical importance. Additionally, besides Russian Federation, also some other actors from International Society have criticized the NATO's interventions over Balkans. Furthermore, NATO's enlargement policy towards Balkans have also been questioned by these actors. Keywords: NATO, Post-Cold War Era, Nationalism, Russian Federation, Balkans, Enlargement Policy, Balkan Interventions, EU, USA