The Future of NATO and an Evolving European Security Interest

Abstract

Throughout its 60 years, NATO has united the West, secured Europe, and ended the Cold War. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, NATO saw a significant enlargement towards the East, went on the offensive for the first time in the Balkans, and deployed for its first "out-of-area" mission to Afghanistan. U.S. unilateral actions in Iraq in 2003 shattered European trust in the transatlantic relationship and the Alliance had to withstand a political segregation into an "old" and "new" Europe. Subsequently, Europeans questioned if they should organize their security beyond NATO and if the Alliance remains meaningful to the United States. It is the aim of this paper to analyze the status of NATO and to discuss NATO's purpose in the 21st century in light of the transatlantic relationship and Europe's evolving security interests. It will conclude with recommendations on how NATO should respond to the strategic challenges it faces and successfully accomplish its future tasks.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 03, 2010
Accession Number
ADA518068

Entities

People

  • Klaus Finck

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Climate Change
  • Cold War
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Security
  • Students
  • Terrorists
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • International Relations and European Studies