The North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Abstract

NATO, founded as a collective defence alliance, has spent most of the post-cold-war period transforming itself into a security management organization. Its ability to adapt has been the basis of NATO’s continued relevance. At the same time, NATO’s adjustments in functional and geographic scope have triggered debate about its strategic direction and the political and military requirements necessary to fulfil current and future roles. This chapter will assess NATO’s evolution by concentrating on the bargaining processes among member states that shaped the direction of NATO’s strategic guidelines and its out-of-area operational activities. The objective is to trace the extent to which a common strategic outlook has emerged among the European members of NATO.