NATO in the 60th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty. Challenges and strategic divergences from national perspectives

After 60 years of existence, the Atlantic Alliance remains the most reliable security organization for the Euro-Atlantic security. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has succeeded in adapting itself to the new international scenario. Starting from the '90s, NATO has undergone a deep evolution, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. On the one hand, the Alliance transformation consisted in the update of strategic goals, the development of new military means and new partnership frameworks. On the other hand, from being an occasional choice the enlargement has turned out to be an enduring open door policy. Over the course of the last decade, it brought about the admission of twelve new members. The NATO's evolution processes implied a shift from a traditional military pact to a new cooperative organization and from a defensive posture to a new expeditionary role. The depth of these processes entailed a reconsideration of the Alliance raison d'être involving new political and security challenges. These, in turn, have implied different and in some cases contradictory responses from the Allies. The aim of this book is to assess the challenges to NATO enlargement and transformation, offering national perspectives on the Alliance's evolution. Accordingly, the analysis focuses on three different levels - old members, new members and partners - in order to provide an appraisal of convergences and divergences on NATO's changing character and responsibilities.