2
NATO Expansion and Small Powers
Experts disagree on whether the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization after the Cold War has brought significant security gains for the West. The
nature of the threat has changed. Western democracies face not a colossal state to the
east of Churchill’s Iron Curtain but a more diffuse and insidious challenge to their
legitimacy. During the Cold War, prospective members of the NATO alliance could be
scrutinized for their likely material contribution to holding off the Red Army in Central
Europe. More recently, the balance of NATO missions has shifted from collective
defense to crisis management. While the size of material contributions still matters,
internal stability and the political will to participate in small-scale contingencies far from
home territory may matter more.
The growing opportunity for symbolic contributions in the global war against
terror groups such as al Qaeda also represents an opportunity for small states.
Conventional analysis views small states as bit players swept along by the forces of great
power relations in the international epic. In 2005, as in 1945, the largest political-
military capability has belonged to the United States. Accordingly, sixty years ago, small
allies had little choice but to re-orient their foreign policies toward Western containment
Convention