Towards a New Strategy for NATO

NATO from Kabul to Earth orbit: can the alliance cope?

“…18 There are indeed signs that NATO suffered from some sort of disorder: the DAS was, in the eye of one observer, a 'lowest-common-denominator' that 'could never provide serious strategic direction for NATO's future evolution'. 19 The Group of Experts' report was broad and lacked a single direction for the Alliance. The Strategic Concept, while short and crisp compared to its predecessor, is not free of ambiguous statements.…”

Kosovo traumas: How NATO got out of its depth in crisis management operations

“…Where Afghanistan challenged this institutional mindset was in relation to the sequencing of security, governance, and development: it would not be possible to go in hard and then draw down; to the contrary, efforts had to be comprehensive, simultaneous, and, given Taliban resistance, escalatory. The accumulated effect on NATO was upsetting, necessitating first the renewal of the Alliance's Strategic Concept (Kamp, 2009) and then a confrontation with the underlying question of whether NATO could continue its crisis management engagement as a 'valuable node in a global security network' (Williams, 2011, p. 139) or rather was at risk of losing its coherence in the shift from collective defense to collective security action (Rynning, 2012).…”

Turkey’s quest for NATO membership: the institutionalization of the Turkish–American alliance

“…On the 60th anniversary of the foundation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2009, there was an intense debate about NATO's new role and strategy in a rapidly changing global order presenting a plethora of challenges and opportunities (Berdal and Ucko 2009;Goldgeier 2009;Hallams 2009;Harsch and Varwick 2009;Kamp 2009;Noetzel and Schreer 2009;Ruhle 2009;Sperling and Webber 2009;Thies 2009;Wolff 2009). In assessing NATO's evolving role over the course of its 60 years, Brzeinski (2009, 2) argues that 'the alliance has institutionalized three truly monumental transformations in world affairs'.…”