NATO Enlargement and the National Agendas of America Great Britain France and Germany

<p>This thesis examines the enlargement of NATO from the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union through the formation of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council and the Partnership for Peace initiative to the present day with an emphasis on the effects of national perspectives and agendas on the formulation of NATO enlargement strategy. The study concentrates on the formulation of NATO enlargement strategy the roles key organizations have had in shaping that strategy and the impact on the process of national concerns and demands including those of Russia. This study concludes that NATO enlargement strategy has yet to fully address the concerns of all NATO members especially in view of the unlikely prospect of Russia's resurgence and the growing tendency for Central and eastern European nations to see joining the European Union (EU) as their primary objective. These and lesser considerations support the contention that perhaps NATO should forego enlargement in favor of expanding and strengthening the activities of PfP. Additional time would permit NATO both to dispel Russian apprehensiveness concerning enlargement and to fashion a coherent enlargement strategy. Such a strategy must address dealing with prospective members not admitted in the first wave establishing a viable relationship with Russia and deciding means and methods for improving military organization and infrastructure. Resolution of these and related issues will allow enlargement to achieve its full potential within the context of a changed European security architecture.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>