The Alliance and New European Security Challenges

Abstract

To the surprise of many who believed it had no future after the Cold War, NATO has emerged as the central security institution of post-Cold War Europe. Rather than losing its mission and sense of relevance after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has seen both the partial re-entry of France into its military decision-making structures and a rush of new applicants for membership. It seems to have reestablished the credibility which was damaged in Bosnia, while the United States has made a renewed commitment to remain in Europe through both its efforts to restructure NATO and its engagement in Bosnia, culminating in the Dayton accords.