Russia and NATO in partnership for peace?

This article discusses NATO - Russian security relations within the frame of <<Partnership for Peace>> (PFP). In accordance with a <<two-tiered modular design>>, the article argues that the PFP concept can promote collective great power cooperation in Europe and contribute to less polarization between NATO and Russia. The analysis is based on a geopolitical perspective concerning NATO activity in Central Europe and Russian activity in the CIS area. PFP, the article argues, might be a strategy to show reciprocal geopolitical restraint. Eventually it will prepare for a security order de facto guaranteed by the western great powers in NATO and Russia in concert, as the great power <<tier>> in a European security system. In this respect, the kind of relations between the great powers as a first <<tier>> and a second <<tier>> of lesser powers, within the framework of PFP, is of importance for a great power-guaranteed system.