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The Evolution of NATO
Key Lecture Points:
• US General Bantz Craddock (formerly responsible for US military command at Guantanamo Bay) took over the post of NATO’s Supreme Commander on December 7, 2006. He is responsible for some 30,000 troops in Afghanistan and another 16,000 in Kosovo. With sectarian and terrorist violence in Afghanistan on the rise, NATO’s presence in Afghanistan has become quite controversial, with France, Germany and others still maintaining restrictions on the use of their troops there. While restrictions from some countries were relaxed at the urging of President Bush after the NATO conference in Riga, Latvia in late November 2006, the remaining holdouts reflect deep divisions within the NATO membership. Given these controversies, and many others, many have wondered about NATO’s relevance, mission and effectiveness in a post-Cold War world.
• NATO was formed in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty. NATO was designed as a collective security alliance, initially to prepare for the possibility of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. Its original membership included Belgium, UK, Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, US, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, and Turkey and Greece followed shortly. When, in 1955, West Germany was invited to join the alliance, the Soviet Union promptly formed the Warsaw Pact, a mirror image of NATO for the USSR and its satellites, thereby formally solidifying the two opposing sides in the Cold War. NATO’s activities between 1949 and 1991 reflected its origins as a Cold War institution, with the organization supporting détente between the US and USSR, and at other times fueling the arms race.
• Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO has expanded upon its original mission, now becoming involved in both crisis management and in making partnerships with non-NATO members. Further, NATO membership has come to include many former Soviet satellites, like Poland, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania and Estonia. NATO even maintains a tenuous partnership with Russia. While some argue that NATO’s new roles and members are helping to reinvent the institution for the 21st century, others suggest that it is an organization in decline, floundering to come up with some reason for existence since the end of the Soviet threat. Further, there appears to be significant divisions between NATO members, particularly over continued expansion of membership and the conflict in Afghanistan.
• NATO is today involved in four different conflicts. A 16,000 troop NATO presence remains in Kosovo to ensure stability; a small contingent of NATO military personnel are working in Sudan to help transport prominent individuals safely; and, NATO personnel are performing a training function (no combat) in Iraq. Further, a 30,000 troop NATO force is in Afghanistan, leading the effort to bring stability to a country plagued by sectarian violence. NATO became involved in Afghanistan following the September 11th, 2001 attacks in the US. On September 12, 2001 NATO invoked, for the first time since its founding, the collective security provision contained in Article 5 of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty (i.e. “an attack on one is an attack on all”).
For More Information:
• On NATO: http://www.nato.int
• On NATO’s potential global role: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6185738.stm
Books For Further Reading:
• Kaplan, Lawrence S. NATO Divided, NATO United: The Evolution of an Alliance. Praeger Paperback, 2004. 176 pages.
Description: This historical look at NATO focuses on its internal divisions and tensions, between the United States and its European allies, particularly since the end of the Cold War.
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• Rupp, Richard. NATO After 9/11: An Alliance in Continuing Decline. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. 296 pages.
Description: This academic, but accessible, book argues that NATO is an alliance in decline, particularly due to its expanding membership and vaguely formulated mission.
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• Asmus, Ronald D. Opening NATO’s Door: How the Alliance Remade itself for a New Era. Columbia University Press, 2004. 372 pages.
Description: This insider’s account of NATO expansion into Eastern and Central Europe, written by one of its foremost proponents, discusses NATO’s role in a post-Cold War.
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