Asia

The end of the Cold War had different effects on the strategic environment in Asia and Europe. On the one hand, the collapse of the Soviet Union terminated a military confrontation between two military alliances, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Treaty Organization. This resulted in the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union, including most European states west of Russia, as well as the dissolution of the Warsaw Treaty Organization in July 1991. On the other hand, with the end of the Cold War in Asia, the U.S. military presence in the region was reduced, while Russia ceased to be a significant actor on the Asian security scene. As a result, a sort of strategic vacuum removed the ...