ARTICLES AND STUDIES
GEOPOLITICAL IDENTITY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA AND STRATEGY OF NATIONAL SECURITY
Abstract
In this paper, we deal with the essential question of whether and in what way the current National security strategy of the Republic of Serbia properly valorizes the geopolitical identity of Serbia and the complex geopolitical position of the Serbian people in the Balkans. We define geopolitical identity as the identification of geopolitical self-awareness and continuity in the time and space of a nation, as a relatively objectifying identity-geographical property of a national or religious group which is related to its specific spatial, cultural-civilizational, religious-confessional and political-state form of existence. Thus, the Serbian geopolitical identity is tellurocratic and is the result of historical forced processes of ethno-spatial repression from the Adriatic coast, unification, conversion to Catholicism, Montenegrinization etc. Apart from the characteristics of a territorially locked country, we would like to point out that Serbia has an island position being surrounded by the member states of one alliance and thus isolated within its territorial space. Serbia is surrounded by NATO member countries and as a result, it faces pressures and has difficulty communicating with potential partners, etc. and if relations deteriorate, it will face military, economic, energy and traffic isolation and sanctions. The specificity of the position of the Balkans and thus of Serbia and Serbian countries, creates a geopolitical magnetism that attracts global and regional powers. The parallel and intertwined interests of these forces create a geopolitical knot in this area as a very important geopolitical feature. These are strategic movements and wedges from several different directions. Russia is trying to coordinate the northeast-southwest direction towards the Mediterranean and warm seas. The German factor has been projecting the direction of movement northwest-southeast for decades. The Islamic factor follows the southeast-northwest direction towards the heart of Europe. The United States is expanding its influence in the southwest-northeast direction and is trying to control most other directions, especially those that extend from the circles of their allies. Finally, China is emerging as a new factor projecting the direction of movement to the west, including the Balkans (China + 17 Initiative), which further complicates Serbia’s geopolitical position. Therefore, Serbia and Serbian countries are in a dynamic zone that’s geopolitical, geostrategic and geoenergetic characteristics are the key to preserving the global position of the world’s great powers.
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