Regional Alliances between states: historical review and future projections for Ukraine

Abstract

Following article refl ects political and political military al liances as means to solve defense challenges that threaten sov ereignty and territorial integrity, among other those of Ukraine. The article evaluates several historical examples of such regional alliances, their benefi ts and drawbacks and how these aff ected the dynamics of international politics. Typical alliances established in pre-modern times, were either temporary and of personal nature or tended to develop into actual unions, limiting the sovereignty of its members. In the modern era though, military-political alliances prevailed, initiated either to perceive imperialist intentions or to protect sovereignty and territorial integrity. Such alliances became especially relevant after the First World War, as new independent states emerged under the terms of the Versailles system and a new confi guration of international borders was established. The examples of Little, Balkan and Baltic Ententes demonstrate the prime shortcoming of these alliances being unable to maintain eff ectiveness in the face of changing sources of threat, when former enemies became allies under new international circumstances. Given that the possibility of Ukraine’s membership to NATO still seems to be a distant pros pect and the need to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty from growing Russian aggression when the position of EU leaders is not always consolidated, further ways of countering Russian aggression must be explored, for instance accumulating possible political or even limited military assistance. From this perspective, it could be ef fective to establish close military-political ties with East European countries, which are as well aware of the degree of threat coming from Russia for their own sovereignty. Certain opportunities could be realized based on the ideas known as Intermarium Coalition in East-Central Europe, the Baltic to Black Sea Alliance, or though achieving Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status for Ukraine.