Author Description

Since the end of the Cold War NATO has struggled to maintain a raison d'etre for its continued existence and relevance. In the 1990s NATO expanded both its membership and the scope of its operations beyond collective defense. After the terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001, NATO invoked Article Five for the first time. This further expanded NATO operations in location and scope. Now that Russian aggression is threatening the stability of Europe, NATO finds itself in a position to demonstrate its resolve against its former Cold War adversary once again as we move forward into the future. This monograph examines the relevance of NATO in the twenty-first century, particularly from a perspective of US interests within a framework of contemporary history. After the conclusion of World War II the United States formally rejected a tradition of political and military "nonentanglement with Europe," ending a propensity to distance ourselves from European affairs while fully accepting responsibility as a superpower actor upon the world's stage. What began with ratification of the North Atlantic Treaty and evolved into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, is unparalleled among the landmark actions of United States diplomacy. The Alliance differed from previous security arrangements to address a particular cause, with "permissively worded provisions" and "the deliberate omission of a terminal date" to make the treaty open ended and enduring. Some considered America's first permanent alliance outside the Western Hemisphere, and apparent violation of "George Washington's Great Rule," an extension of the Monroe Doctrine "across the Atlantic to buttress Europe's balance of power." Many hail NATO as "the premier international security institution" and the most successful alliance undertaken in history.4 Whether one agrees or not, one cannot easily dismiss the contributions of NATO to European security during the past sixty-plus years. Perhaps speaking for many