Publication date:
18 August 2011Length of book:
280 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksISBN-13: 9780739137147
Transforming NATO: New Allies, Missions, and Capabilities, by Ivan Dinev Ivanov, examines the three dimensions of NATO’s transformation since the end of the Cold War: the addition of a dozen new allies; the undertaking of new missions such as peacekeeping, crisis response, and stabilization; and the development of new capabilities to implement these missions. The book explains these processes through two mutually reinforcing frameworks: club goods theory and the concept of complementarities. NATO can be viewed as a diverse, heterogeneous club of nations providing collective defense to its members, who, in turn, combine their military resources in a way that enables them to optimize the Alliance’s capabilities needed for overseas operations.
Transforming NATO makes a number of theoretical contributions. First, it offers new insights into understanding how heterogeneous clubs operate. Second, it introduces a novel concept, that of complementarities. Finally, it re-evaluates the relevance of club goods theory as a framework for studying contemporary international security. These conceptual foundations apply to areas well beyond NATO. They provide useful insights into understanding the operation of transatlantic relations, alliance politics, and a broader set of international coalitions and partnerships.
This update in April 2013 covers new developments related to NATO’s transformation after this book was originally published: http://homepages.uc.edu/~ivanovid/pdfs/book_update.pdf
Transforming NATO makes a number of theoretical contributions. First, it offers new insights into understanding how heterogeneous clubs operate. Second, it introduces a novel concept, that of complementarities. Finally, it re-evaluates the relevance of club goods theory as a framework for studying contemporary international security. These conceptual foundations apply to areas well beyond NATO. They provide useful insights into understanding the operation of transatlantic relations, alliance politics, and a broader set of international coalitions and partnerships.
This update in April 2013 covers new developments related to NATO’s transformation after this book was originally published: http://homepages.uc.edu/~ivanovid/pdfs/book_update.pdf
In this volume, Ivanov provides a new and valuable perspective on why NATO did not fade away at the end of the Cold War. Dr. Ivanov argues convincingly that understanding NATO's post Cold War evolution requires examining the dynamic intersections of three processes: membership expansion, mission enlargement and capabilities transformation. This analysis debunks arguments that NATO would become irrelevant in the absence of the Soviet threat as well as those warning that expanded NATO's membership would bring decision-making to its knees. This book makes a valuable contribution to the discussion of why NATO members continue to value the alliance, even with its shortcomings and fault lines.