Examines how NATO has adapted and endured after the end of the Cold War, transforming itself to deal with a host of new security challenges. Why is it that despite the end of the Cold War and the almost constant controversies surrounding the alliance’s role in the world, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is still a prominent and vital player in international security? Joe Burton provides an in-depth analysis of NATO’s changing role in the post–Cold War era and its ability to survive, adapt, and meet the needs of its members in an increasingly turbulent, globalized security environment. He offers a historically and theoretically informed account of NATO that isolates the core dynamics that have held the alliance together in troubled times. In particular, he examines a series of processes and events—from the 1990 Gulf War to the rise of the Islamic State—that help explain NATO’s continuing relevance. “This book does an excellent job of chronicling key events that have led to NATO’s ongoing presence in international relations as a key provider of global security.” — Ryan C. Hendrickson, author of Diplomacy and War at NATO: The Secretary General and Military Action after the Cold War

This book analyses the evolution of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its policies from the Cold War until today. NATO’s future cannot be fully understood without analysing its past: the origins of its structure and goals, and their transformation over time. By exploring NATO’s geopolitical and military role at crucial points throughout history, this edited volume considers the challenges and threats which have faced the alliance, as well as its strengths and weaknesses. It covers highly-debated and unresolved issues such as budgetary burden-sharing and the military transatlantic gap, the enlargement process, and the role of Asia in influencing NATO’s policies. Combining a historical approach with international perspectives, this book is an interdisciplinary read that will appeal to scholars of diplomatic history and international relations. Chapters 1 and 2 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Established in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) performed its assigned mission exceedingly well as it secured peace for its member states and avoided military confrontation between the superpowers during the remaining four decades of the Cold War. But with the dramatic changes that began in 1989, an identity crisis has plagued NATO. Whereas the Cold War years had essentially defined who would be fighting whom in a future conflict, the uncertain post-1989 years are introducing new and possibly calamitous variables. Despite the fact that hardly a voice has been heard calling for its dissolution and that states from the former Warsaw Pact are seeking membership, NATO's members face the demanding task of defining the new strategic challenges and formulating appropriate policies and responses. The articles in this volume combine to present a comprehensive investigation of the diverse problems confronting NATO. The contributions each provide relevant historical background before analyzing current conditions and projecting into the future. An opening essay offers an overview of NATO after forty-five years and is followed by others dealing with NATO's structural changes for the 1990s, NATO's shifting strategy, and NATO's developing connections with other international organizations, such as the United Nations, CSCE, and the European Community. The concluding part of the volume includes essays focusing on NATO's associations with the United States, the Anglo-American "special relationship," the Balkans, the former Warsaw Pact states, and the Middle East.

Why is it that despite the end of the Cold War and the almost constant controversies surrounding the alliance's role in the world, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is still a prominent and vital player in international security? Joe Burton provides an in-depth analysis of NATO's changing role in the post–Cold War era and its ability to survive, adapt, and meet the needs of its members in an increasingly turbulent, globalized security environment. He offers a historically and theoretically informed account of NATO that isolates the core dynamics that have held the alliance together in troubled times. In particular, he examines a series of processes and events—from the 1990 Gulf War to the rise of the Islamic State—that help explain NATO's continuing relevance.

This book analyses the expansion of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) into the post-Soviet space after the end of the Cold War. Based on an extensive analysis of the literature and government documents, including doctrines, statements and speeches by the most influential decision-makers and other actors, it sheds new light on the geopolitical and geostrategic context of the expansion of the military alliance, and assesses its impact on international security relations in Europe. The first chapter introduces readers to the neo-realist approach and develops the methodological basis of the book. The following chapters provide a historical overview of the causes and consequences of two waves of eastward NATO enlargement. Special attention is paid to the annexation of the Crimea and to Russian hybrid-asymmetric warfare. Finally, thirty years after the end of the Cold War, the book notes a disturbing return to militarization in international security relations. To counter this process, the author calls for a reduction of current international tensions and a new policy of détente.