Introduction: NATO as an object of research

Abstract

Contrary to the realist's expectations about the demise of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after the end of the Cold War, the institution has been playing a key role in transatlantic security and prosperity for more than seven decades. It has proven highly flexible and has expanded both its functional and geographic remits. After Russia's Ukraine invasion of February 2022 and its continuing undermining of the rule-based Euro-Atlantic order, NATO is far from obsolete currently. Notably containing Russia will remain one of its most critical tasks for the foreseeable future.When the North Atlantic Treaty (NAT) was signed on 4 April 1949 in Washington, the contracting parties did not clearly envision the creation of an organization with advanced institutional commitments. They discussed this merely as a possibility. Nowhere does the NAT refer to "organization", let alone a "North Atlantic Treaty Organization". Nonetheless, over time the institution developed organizational features. Several permanent bodies were established, such as the North Atlantic Council (NAC), the Alliance's prime decision-making body. The Allies consolidated their armed forces on a centralized basis and an integrated military command started regulating member state behaviour to achieve joint security objectives. To provide for political control and guidance over military matters, a civil service was instituted. A plethora of organizational units, ad hoc working groups, commands, headquarters and supporting agencies were formed whereby NATO acquired significant expertise and competencies. Allowing it to interact with the external environment, NATO's civilian and military staff enjoy a number of powers that encourage, shape and help implement joint agreements among the Allies. This remarkable reinforcement has led some scholars to portray NATO as "the most robust and deeply institutionalized alliance in the modern world" (Saideman and Auerswald 2012, p. 67).NATO's membership has risen steadily beyond the twelve founding parties of the NAT, inter alia by Greece and Turkey (1952) and West Germany (1955). Based on Article 10 of the NAT, "any other European State in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area" can be invited to join the organization. This is also referred to as NATO's "open door policy". After 1990, its membership was particularly sought-after. Many former Warsaw Pact members were admitted (Asmus 2002), all of which were previously part of NATO's cooperation structures such as the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) and the Partnership for Peace (PfP). After Russia started waging war against Ukraine in 2022, traditional neutral states Finland and Sweden likewise wished to join. At the June 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid, Heads of State and Government stated in their declaration to invite these countries "to become members". Pending successful ratification from all the current 30 NATO nations, the membership will rise to 32. At the same time, no singl...