The Effect of NATO Partnerships on Alliance's Smart Defense

Abstract

Partnerships have become an important mechanism to foster closer cooperation between international institutions and countries that are interested to develop closer relations with these institutions. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) introduced a number of initiatives in the last two decades including Partnership for Peace (PfP), Mediterranean Dialogue, Istanbul Cooperative Initiative, and others. These forms of international cooperation constitute an important element of NATO’s cooperative security and play a crucial role in the promotion of smart defense, i.e. one that “provides greater security with fewer resources but also needs higher level of coordination and coherence.”

The literature recognizes some inherent advantages of NATO partnerships as they engage non-members to work closely with the Alliance in areas where there are mutual benefits of such cooperation. Nonetheless, current studies fail to address the extent to which NATO is able to persuade it partners to accomplish two specific goals: (1) manage more effectively their limited resources (e.g. personnel and military equipment); and (2) increase partner contributions to overseas operations. This paper explores the extent to which NATO partnerships can be an effective tool that persuades participating nations to modify their own security policies and expand their involvement in international operations. The paper offers theoretical and policy findings about the impact of security cooperation with nations from Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa about the benefits of smart defense.

Keywords: NATO partners, Partnership for Peace, Smart Defense, International Cooperation