At the close of an extraordinary European Union (EU) summit held in Brussels recently, the 27-member states of EU have decided to suspend negotiations with Russia on a new strategic partnership, as long as Moscow keeps its troops in Georgia.
But contrary to some hardliners' proposals, no sanctions have been imposed on Kremlin. Therefore, Russia might be satisfied with this diplomatic outcome.
It is actually a tactful compromise that has been reached among European countries. Their initial positions were largely opposed. Already, they have some difficulties to arrive at a common European security policy due to their individual differences with the US and transatlantic policies. But when it comes to the relationship with Moscow, the gap is even wider.
On the one hand, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium and many others have a pragmatic vision. They do not agree with Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's or President Dimitry Medvedev's policy, and they tend to think that Moscow over-reacted to the Georgian attack. But they do not want to antagonise Russia and to depict it as an evil country.
They favour maintaining contact and dialogue which they feel are in the interests of all. In the past, they were used to difficult and tumultuous relations with the erstwhile Soviet Union. Therefore, they believe that dtente and dialogue are a wiser policy approach than starting another Cold War. Indeed, the collapse of the Berlin Wall proves that diplomacy works.
On the other hand, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic States, which for a long time were controlled by Moscow, are apprehensive about the revival of Russia as a strong power. Thanks to the end of the Cold War and the demise of the Warsaw Pact, they are now truly independent members of the European Union. But psychologically and strategically they are still marked by the Cold War era. Because they suffered from Soviet domination, they now fear Russia, without distinguishing it from the USSR.
This leads them to get closer to Washington, the only power which is able to provide real protection to them. But, because of these strategic links between its former proxies and its long-time rival, Moscow is getting more worried and thus it is strengthening its position. It is a perfect vicious circle. Great Britain is also close to the former Warsaw Pact countries.
Controversial
We should be happy that no EU resolution to impose sanctions on Russia has been adopted, though some countries asked for them. It might have been a mistake, first and foremost, because the very word of sanction is highly controversial. Imposing sanctions against a country stems from a superiority complex. The master punishes the pupil. One decides sanctions against another international actor because he think that he is entitled to do it and the other is not. So one thinks that he is able to enforce it and the other has no choice but to obey.
The Western world tends to believe that it has the power to adopt sanctions against states which are considered as deviant at the international level. The problem is that most often rules are not respected and only defined by the Western world, not by the international community.
Another common problem is that the Western world does not respect its own rules, while demanding others to follow them. The moral power to impose sanctions is already dubious, if not decided by a large majority of countries on a consensus basis. And probably, the rest of the world cannot stand the Western's hubris anymore.
The second issue which is linked to the first is efficiency. To be efficient, sanctions must be largely followed. They have worked for instance to dismantle apartheid in South Africa, because almost all countries in the world agreed to respect them.
Sanctions that are only followed by Western countries will prove to be inefficient and will expose the weakness of those who have imposed them and not of those against whom they are directed. More than avoiding punishment to Moscow, the EU countries have in fact protected their credibility.
Dr Pascal Boniface is the founder and director of IRIS (Institut de Relations Internationales et Strategiques)
