Novikov D.P. The USA and the Discussion about the Institutional Architecture of the European Security (2008-2014)

Abstract: The subject of the research in the present article is the elaboration of the American approach to the issue of reformation of the institutional architecture of the European security during the "reset" policy. Special attention is paid to the domestic discussion in the USA regarding this issue, which defines the line of the possible concessions of Washington regarding Russian proposals about radical reconsideration of the system of European security after the military conflict in Georgia in August 2008. The article highlights the reasons of the USA's rejection to reform the Euro-Atlantic institutions and the consequences of such an approach, one of which was the Ukrainian crisis that emerged in 2014. The research is based on the methodological traditions of neoclassical realism, within the framework of which the American policy is considered as a response to a structural challenge of external environment, in this case — "shattering" of the architecture of European security after the August War in 2008. The academic novelty of the research lies in the demonstration of a tight connection between the current crisis of European security (the Ukrainian crisis) and the agenda of the "reset" policy proposed by B. Obama's administration. A rather limited approach to Moscow's proposals regarding reformation of the institutional architecture of European security and focussing on the tactical issues destined the fading of the "reset" and strengthening of the supporters of a "tough" approach towards Russia in the American domestic configuration, who also support the maximal preservation of the existing institutes of Euro-Atlantic security. To a great extent it accelerated political tensions that led to the 2014 Ukrainian crisis. 

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