Untangling Nato Transformation

The purpose of this paper is to untangle the capabilities portion of NATO's "transformation" initiatives and analyze their contribution to international security. The key questions asked are: What does NATO transformation entail, is it effective and what is its future? The conclusion concedes a measure of progress but identifies several shortfalls. The paper then makes a general recommendation for improving NATO's transformational capabilities. NATO's transformation efforts are balancing unsteadily between political will and military commitment. Foreign and defense ministers generally support transformation initiatives, but find their best intentions side-lined by fierce competition for domestic budgets. As can be expected from an international institution with a dual (political and military) identity, NATO's transformational work is proceeding in an uneven political-military manner. The bottom line, however, is that the political decisions on Prague Capability Commitment programs are disconnected from NATO's other military programs. Research was conducted using a variety of materials (official NATO documents, articles, reports, monographs and book chapters).

Benjamin Zyla rejects the claim that countries like Canada have shirked their responsibilities within NATO since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

is understudied, both inside and outside of government. Tactical weapons, although less awesome than their strategic siblings, carry significant security and political risks, and they have not received the attention that is commensurate to their importance. Second, it is clear that whatever the future of these arms, the status quo is unacceptable. It is past the time for NATO to make more resolute decisions, find a coherent strategy, and formulate more definite plans about its nuclear status. Consequently, decisions about the role of nuclear weapons within the Alliance and the associated supporting analysis are fundamental to the future identity of NATO. At the Lisbon Summit in Portugal in November 2010, the Alliance agreed to conduct the Deterrence and Defense Posture Review (DDPR). This effort is designed to answer these difficult questions prior to the upcoming NATO Summit in May 2012.

This book provides a broad, interdisciplinary analysis of events impacting on North Macedonia since its independence, particularly during the last decade. In the past thirty years, the country has gone through deep political, social and economic transition, along with a name change from ‘Macedonia’ to the ‘Republic of North Macedonia’ following the Prespa Agreement signed with Greece. The contributors consider Macedonia’s challenges, its multi-ethnic make-up and its ambition to enter the European mainstream through the auspices of the European Union and NATO. The volume includes chapters on international politics and North Macedonia’s place in the region’s security architecture as well as the difficulties of the privatisation of socially owned enterprises, political corruption, state capture and backsliding. The book also covers the controversial ‘Skopje 2014’ project in addition to the impact of migration along the ‘Balkan Route’ and the current wranglings with Bulgaria over identity politics.

At a time of unprecedented turmoil in the transatlantic relationship, as America asserts its right to act unilaterally to defend itself against terrorism and Europeans are increasingly aggressive in promoting a multilateralist approach to security issues, this book examines the post-9/11 and Iraqi war security environment, especially the impact on NATO and transatlantic relations as the European Union seeks to build a unified foreign and defence policy that will enable Europeans to play a fuller role in the international system.

Since the unprecedentedly effective performance of the allied air campaign against Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, the role of American air power in future wars has become a topic of often heated public debate. In this balanced appraisal of air power's newly realized strengths in joint warfare, Benjamin Lambeth, a defense analyst and civilian pilot who has flown in most of the equipment described in this book, explores the extent to which the United States can now rely on air-delivered precision weapons in lieu of ground forces to achieve strategic objectives and minimize American casualties.Beginning with the U.S. experience in Southeast Asia and detailing how failures there set the stage for a sweeping refurbishment of the nation's air warfare capability, Lambeth reviews the recent history of American air power, including its role in the Gulf War and in later conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Serbia. He examines improvements in areas ranging from hardware development to aircrew skills and organizational adaptability.Lambeth acknowledges that the question of whether air power should operate independently or continue to support land operations is likely to remain contentious. He concludes, however, that air power, its strategic effectiveness proven, can now set the conditions for victory even from the outset of combat if applied to its fullest potential.

A clearly articulated, well-defined, and relatively stable grand strategy is supposed to allow the ship of state to steer a steady course through the roiling seas of global politics. However, the obstacles to formulating and implementing grand strategy are, by all accounts, imposing. The Oxford Handbook of Grand Strategy addresses the conceptual and historical foundations, production, evolution, and future of grand strategy from a wide range of standpoints. The seven constituent sections present and critically examine the history of grand strategy, including beyond the West; six distinct theoretical approaches to the subject; the sources of grand strategy, ranging from geography and technology to domestic politics to individual psychology and culture; the instruments of grand strategy's implementation, from military to economic to covert action; political actors', including non-state actors', grand strategic choices; the debatable merits of grand strategy, relative to alternatives; and the future of grand strategy, in light of challenges ranging from political polarization to technological change to aging populations. The result is a field-defining, interdisciplinary, and comparative text that will be a key resource for years to come.