The Nations of NATO: Shaping the Alliance's Relevance and Cohesion

Summary

NATO stands at the forefront of the response to Russia's aggression in Ukraine. But how does NATO function?



The Nations of NATO explores national policies within the Atlantic Alliance. It examines the foreign policies of sixteen allies, focusing on issues such as their strategic cultures, relationship with the US, contributions to NATO operations, levels of defense spending, domestic challenges, and decision-making processes. The recent crisis in Ukraine has without doubt reinvigorated NATO as a military alliance, but over the last decade it has also been affected by a number of challenges, both endogenous and exogenous. Whether the Alliance is threatened from the outside (Russia, terrorism, China) or is being undermined from within (intra-Alliance politics, diverging threat perceptions) has become an increasingly debated issue. The degree to which the Alliance can adapt to evolving threats has also been at stake. At the heart of these debates are NATO allies' policies, preferences, threat perceptions, and level of commitment to the shared enterprise.



By analyzing the drivers, constraints, and specificities of relevant national policies, the volume offers an overview of NATO's contemporary functions and challenges, and constitutes an important source of data for future research and comparative analysis.