Nato: In Search Of A Vision

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) marked its sixtieth anniversary in April 2009 and now has twenty-eight member countries. This is not an anniversary book, but it is a scholarly reflection on NATO's past, present, and future. More specifically, this edited volume brings together a seasoned group of American and European scholars to focus on highlighting the current challenges the alliance faces as well as suggesting a new strategic vision for NATO. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has been searching for a new identity and purpose. NATO expansion has been used as a carrot to promote democracy and market reforms in former Soviet bloc countries, and NATO changed from being primarily a collective defense organization to a collective security organization with out-of-area operations. Obstacles to continued expansion, the sometimes strained relations between the U.S. and other member countries, lagging military capabilities among many members, and a host of other issues cloud the future of the alliance. At the same time, a resurgent Russia provides a reminder of why the alliance was created in the first place sixty years ago.