A comparative review of executive/legislative relations in the U.S. and Russia pertaining to NATO enlargement

Abstract

The membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, expanded in 1999. This enlargement includes countries within the Warsaw Pact. NATO enlargement has important consequences for the Alliance and the United States. It also has tremendous consequences for the focus of the Alliance, the former Soviet Union, and the present day Russian Federation. The question of whether an active and lively debate has taken place between the branches of these governments on this issue, specifically between the executive and legislative branches, is explored in this thesis. It explains how US foreign policy was determined by leading policy makers, and that the lack of discourse and debate in executive/legislative relations is counterproductive. It describes how NATO enlargement became a non-issue in 1998 in the United States, and a catalyst for reactionary politics within Russia. Further, it provides insight into whether this lack of debate is congruent with past relations between the executive and legislative branches. The thesis also explores Russian constitutional relationships and how they shape Russian attitudes toward NATO enlargement.