Russia at NATO's Chicago summit

Last year I discussed the results of NATO’s 2010 Lisbon Summit as they applied to NATO-Russia relations. What has happened in the meantime and how have these developments affected the Chicago 2012 NATO Summit? Well, for one thing, the fact that Russia’s ‘new’ President Vladimir Putin did not want to attend the conference can be considered as a significant feature of the current relationship. A number of the themes discussed at the Chicago 20-21 May 2012 Summit were more or less connected to the Alliance’s relationship with Russia. In italics in the pdf attached below I will describe these issues as stated in the Summit Declaration, followed by a brief analysis of each of them.