nic instabilities in Europe, especially Eastern Europe, without undercutting the unity of the alliance. Events in the former Yugoslavia have exposed deep rifts between NATO countries on the present and future role of the alliance in dealing with a changing European theater. Underlying all of these challenges is the realization that the United States is consigning itself to more of an international partnership role rather than leadership role in the performance of North Atlantic Treaty Organization objectives.
The purpose of this research is to examine the changing geopolitical environment for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and to assess the future of NATO in European affairs. This analysis will include an evaluation of the new problems emerging in European international affairs and a reevaluation of NATO objectives in this new environment. The resource capabilities of NATO to achieve these new objectives will also be analyzed.
Ever since the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1989, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been slowly laying the groundwork for a fundamental transition in its history. NATO's greatest reason for existence providing for the common defense of European democracies against Soviet expansionism-has largely been lost with the collapse of the Soviet empire and the rise of democratic movements within Russia and many other former Eastern bloc countries. NATO must now find a purpose in a remarkably different world marked by a powerful drive toward the unity of both Western and Eastern Europe. To highlight the severity of the NATO's changing environment, former communist countries, including Russia, are now clamoring to join the alliance.
In order to remain a significant force in this new environment, NATO must reevaluate its roles in European geopolitics, its objectives and missions, the manner in which it pursues these missions, and even its membership. Its mandate for the security ...