The EU, NATO, and the Extension of Institutional Order in Europe

In: World affairs: a journal of ideas and debate, Band 163, Heft 2, S. 80-89

Abstract

With the end of the Cold War, both NATO & the European Community (EC) were required to reassess their functions. Though it was obvious that the EC would continue as some sort of trading organization (later to become the European Union), NATO's continuation needed to be justified. There were reports in the early 1990s that informal meetings were being held between EC & NATO officials; however, the only real shared objective between the two institutions was the issue of European Union (EU) enlargement. Through their two enlargement processes, the EU & NATO have developed a relationship based on "incremental linkage." Ten years after the end of the Cold War, it is obvious that both the EU & NATO are necessary security elements in a post-Cold-War Europe. Therefore, both must not only continue their enlargement processes, but also develop a more formal alliance. In addition, states that are members of both the EU & NATO should institute strategies designed to promote a cooperative relationship with nonmembers. K. A. Larsen