Status and Role of NATO

The crumbling of the so-called Communist Empire in Eastern Europe in 1989 and 1990 led many political analysts to proclaim that the transformation of international political environment from a bipolar character, in which the United States and the Soviet Union were the principal players, would result in either: (1) a multipolar character, in which either (a) the United States will be but one of several major players (Hyland 5), or (b) the United States, Japan, and the reunited Germany will be the major players, with a considerably less significant role for Russia (Tarnoff 67-80); or (2) a unipolar character in which the United States is the dominant world power (Sanders 27-35). According to many political analysts, NATO becomes superfluous regardless of which of the forecasted scenarios evolves (Morrison 11-15).

There is little doubt that the international political order is changing, and that in the spring of 1997 it is significantly different from what it was in the fall of 1988 just before the collapse of the Soviet Union's dominance over Eastern Europe began

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particular sets of interests," but, although interstate behavior is "to varying degrees based on consensus and mutual interest, the primary foundation is a in the power and interests of the dominant a states in a a system." NATO is a politically-oriented international regime that is based on power (Nelson 32-36). While the members of NATO have shared interests, it has been the interests of the United States primarily that have shaped the regime. The creation, functioning, and evolution of NATO are far more supportive of Gilpin's perceptions of international regimes than they are of those of Keohane. Keohane might respond that the American motives underlying its support for NATO were essentially economic in character. Certainly, there is some truth in such a contention; however, couching the postwar international motivations of the United States only in narrow economic terms tends to ignore the strong ideological base of American attitudes and policy in this era. With the demise of the bipolar international order, and with that demise, the reality is that NATO is not nearly so important to its member states as it once was (Lunak 138-131). While the European Community is both consolidating and expanding its regime, the Unite
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Robert Keohane, United Russia·likely, Layne Schwarz, Robert Gilpin, Warsaw Pact, Soviet Union's, Western European, East Asia, Europe United, Keohane Keohane, warsaw pact, former warsaw pact, former warsaw, layne schwarz, east asia, germany japan, eastern europe, role nato, political environment, international relations, international political, warsaw pact nations, europe east asia, resources required deal, conflicts former yugoslavia,
Approximate Word count = 2760
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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