political role will be denied to a country with an armed force as formidable as is that of Russia (Wettig 953-972).
Given the uncertainties of the contemporary global political environment, the relationship between the two most powerful military forces on earth·the United States and Russia·likely will play a major role in determining the political shape of the world for years to come (Ruttan 51-52). Within this context, the question that must be answered concerns the degree of collaboration and conflict that may be anticipated between countries, for the higher the level of collaboration, the lower the level of conflict, and the greater the probability of international political stability. The greater the probability of future political stability, the lower is the likelihood that NATO will be needed and that the organization will survive (Clarke 22-40).
International relations most often is thought of in terms of relations among nations, which largely are associated with conflict resolution, as conflict and disagreement "are endemic" in the contemporary international environment (Dale 28-29). Cooperation may be considered as a foundation of human civilization; however, cooperation in transnational conflict resolution has traditionally been noticeably absent in the conduct of international relations (Karatrnycky 57-59). One need go no further back than the Gulf War in the late-winter of 1991 or the current conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Israel for examples of conflicts resolved or in the process of being resolved by other than peaceful means, although it may be argued that the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Israel can be settled in the long-run only through the conduct of peaceful negotiations, and that the conflict that precipitated the Gulf War has not been settled.
War or the threat of the use of force is the traditional approach to conflict resolution in the conduct of international relations. Robert Gi...