Promouvoir les valeurs occidentales: la vision des élargissements de l'OTAN post-1989 : Le cas de la Pologne, de la Slovénie et des pays Baltes

Details

Supervisors

Spetschinsky, Laetitia ; Mérand, Frédéric

Faculty

Faculté des sciences économiques, sociales, politiques et de communication

Degree label

Master [120] en études européennes, à finalité spécialisée: gouvernance et sociétés européennes

Abstract

enThe end of the Cold War in 1989 sparked several debates surrounding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Originally created to defend the Western world from the Soviet threat, it had to find a new purpose after the collapse of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. One of the major questions in the 1990s was what kind of relationship NATO should maintain with Russia and the states of Central and Eastern Europe. The organization's expansion remained a matter of debate until 1997, when the Alliance decided to integrate Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into NATO. Canada was one of the leading advocates of NATO enlargement, even being the first to ratify accession protocols on several occasions. However, the country was much more demanding in its choice of allies during the Cold War. Furthermore, the country's foreign policy has always sought to expand NATO's political and economic role to make it more than just a military alliance. What explains this change after the Cold War? What role did this desire to deepen NATO play in Canada's support for enlargement? Using a case study of Poland, Slovenia, and the Baltic countries, informed by research in Canadian Senate archives, this thesis will attempt to understand the debates that took place at that time within the Canadian political class. The thesis demonstrates that the desire to consolidate democratic progress, the liberalization of the economies of these countries, and the security stability of the region led Canada to strongly support NATO enlargement. This position is not in contradiction with Canada's foreign policy, which allowed for the introduction of Article 2 in the North Atlantic Treaty.