Document Type : Research Paper

Abstract

New security environment of the structure of the international system has led to widespread and common challenges and threats to NATO and Russia as well. Therefore, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has focused its new strategic concept in Lisbon (2010) on the effective activities in three main areas of collective defense, crisis management and security cooperation and emphasizes that the threats of the third millennium has paved the way for NATO's further role in trans-Atlantic alliance and the whole international system and it has necessitated the redefinition of NATO's strategic concept of the alliance and its cooperation with Russia. This research paper attempts to show that due to the emergence of new common threat, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has conducted security cooperation with Russia in areas such as terrorism, Afghanistan and  missile defense shield which has consequently brought the two leading actors of the international system together. Russia and NATO have understood that the new security threats of international security, which in many cases are regarded as the common threats of the two actors, can be investigated and resolved only through cooperative security cooperation. Acknowledging this reality, the new Strategic Concept has enhanced security cooperation between NATO and Russia