NATO after 2000: The future of the Euro-Atlantic alliance

Book abstract:

Fifty years on from its creation and in a post-Soviet world has NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) outlived it's raison d'être? What does the future hold for an organisation long recognised as the bedrock of European security? The key issues which face NATO as it enters the 21st century are critically explored in this work through the prism of the United States' 'Triple Crown' strategy for engaging with Europe through NATO, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union (EU).

NATO's attempts to develop capabilities and command and force structures to perform the full range of the alliance missions are critically examined in Chapter 1. EU aspirations to a common defence policy are taken into account in Chapter 2 as the authors explore the prospects for a better transatlantic balance of responsibilities. Chapter 3 assesses the legal basis for NATO missions outside the treaty area when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) fails to act and asks how allies understand the question of what is worth sending armed forces into harm's way - whose fight is it? NATO's external adaptation through its special relationship with Russia, enlargement, and the outreach to all European and other states are closely examined in Chapters 4, 5 and 6. The authors then look at the prospects for a more inclusive security system in which all North American and European states have an equal voice and concludes 'that there is no alternative to ensuring that the Atlantic Alliance remains the primary contractor in the effort to shape a stable security order in Europe grounded in partnership, democratic values and solidarity. And discharging that fundamental task will, as always, have to flow from Washington DC.'

The book will be suitable for politicians, diplomats, officials, the military, academics and students of International Relations.

John Borawski was formerly an editor of the journal 'Helsinki Monitor', director of the Political Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels and security advisor to the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE.

Thomas-Durell Young is European Program Manager at the Centre for Civil-Military Relations at the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California and formerly Research professor at the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.