NATO's success in Afghanistan--or lack thereof--will have significant implications for the alliance itself. The authors examine current mission in light of NATO's history and with an eye toward the future. NATO faces a long and daunting list of issues that extends beyond the borders of the member countries. The alliance must confront them, however, because failure to do so would risk its long-term success and sustainability.

This new volume explores the crisis in transatlantic relations and analyses the role of NATO following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The book offers a unified theory of cooperation in the new security paradigm to explain the current state of transatlantic relations and NATO’s failure to adequately transform itself into a security institution for the 21st century. It argues that a new preoccupation with risk filled the vacuum left by the collapse of the Soviet Union, and uses the literature of the Risk Society to analyse the strained politics of the North Atlantic community. Using case studies to show how the West has pursued a strategy of risk management, and the effect this has had on NATO’s politics, the book argues that a better understanding of how risk affects Western political cohesion will allow policy makers a way of adapting the structure of NATO to make it more effective as a tool for security. Having analysed NATO’s recent failings, the book offers a theory for the way in which it can become an active risk manager, through the replacement of its established structure by smaller, ad hoc groupings.

This book offers a prospective analysis of the anticipated security consequences of climate change in relation to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Using climate and security literature to complement recent foresight and scenario analysis developed by NATO, the author applies the International Risk Governance Council’s (IRGC) Risk Governance Framework to identify the considerations and actions that could assist NATO in a context where climate and environmental factors more intensively shape security. Tyler Lippert explores how climate change has the potential to increase the need for humanitarian assistance and disaster response, to create tension over shared resources, to renew and enhance geo-political interest in the Arctic, and to deepen concern with respect to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Within this new political and environmental reality, NATO must consider how to adapt to meet new demands, prepare for new security challenges, as well as manage unforeseen consequences. Offering a corrective, this book identifies near-term actions for NATO to improve its risk governance posture, providing a basis upon which longer-range policy considerations can be developed. This analysis is only the opening salvo of what is likely to be a complicated process that spans many years, if not decades. However, in mapping the risk governance dimensions to the security and climate nexus from the perspective of NATO, Lippert provides a foundation for risk-based policy planning for NATO. The book will be of immense value to policy and decision makers: NATO leadership and its affiliated organizations as well as to academics across a broad span of subject areas, particularly environmental sociology, defense and foreign policy, and the political sciences.

This new volume explores the crisis in transatlantic relations and analyses the role of NATO following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The book offers a unified theory of cooperation in the new security paradigm to explain the current state of transatlantic relations and NATO's failure to adequately transform itself into a security institution for the 21st century. It argues that a new preoccupation with risk filled the vacuum left by the collapse of the Soviet Union, and uses the literature of the Risk Society to analyse the strained politics of the North Atlantic community. Using case studies to show how the West has pursued a strategy of risk management, and the effect this has had on NATO's politics, the book argues that a better understanding of how risk affects Western political cohesion will allow policy makers a way of adapting the structure of NATO to make it more effective as a tool for security. Having analysed NATO's recent failings, the book offers a theory for the way in which it can become an active risk manager, through the replacement of its established structure by smaller, ad hoc groupings.

The security environment facing the United States and NATO in Europe is changing in fundamental ways, including a steady growth of security challenges emanating from Europe's southern periphery--around the Mediterranean and beyond. This study explores this phenomenon, with special attention to transregional risks, Turkey's Alliance role and need for redefinition, the risk of a Greek-Turkish conflict, the Mediterranean dimension of NATO adaptation, and what these issues might mean for U.S. and NATO strategy. The author finds that Spain, Italy, and Turkey will be key to supporting expeditionary operations in the south; military-to-military ties will require new efforts; a portfolio approach to access arrangements can provide a hedge against uncertainties about coalition behavior in crises; bilateral air power activities in the south should have increased NATO content; and Greek-Turkish risk reduction is an imperative. Areas for future research include lessons of Kosovo for basing and access, the role of air power based in Turkey, and potential USAF contributions to Greek-Turkish risk reduction.