Impact of polish memberships in NATO and the EU on polish foreign policy towards Russia

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi, Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2008

Öğrenci: KADRİYE BODUR

Danışman: OKTAY FIRAT TANRISEVER

Özet:

This thesis examines the impact of Poland’s NATO and EU memberships on Polish foreign policy towards Russia by taking the historical background of Poland’s relations with Russia into account. The main objective of the thesis is to examine the change in Polish foreign policy towards Russia in the aftermath of its memberships in NATO and the EU in 1999 and 2004 respectively. The thesis argues that Poland has changed its accommodative approach towards Russia and started to pursue a more assertive foreign policy after its NATO and the EU memberships due to its decreasing dependency on this country. In this thesis, the concept of interdependence is employed to explain Polish foreign policy on Russia. The thesis has six chapters, including Introduction and Conclusion chapters. The second chapter explores the historical background of Polish-Russian relations. The third chapter analyzes the main characteristics of Polish foreign policy in the post-Cold War era. The fourth chapter examines the impact of Poland’s NATO membership on Polish foreign policy towards Russia. The fifth chapter discusses the impact of Poland’s EU membership on its foreign policy towards Russia.