ABSTRACT
Over the last 20 years the transatlantic relationship has been put to the test by an ever-changing international environment. A well-defined system based on concepts such as the balance of power and deterrence gave way to a less than certain world in which abstract and amorphous risks came to be the principal challenges to Western security. NATO spent the 1990s attempting to adjust to new strategic realities. It has been an incredibly dynamic period of change, but the transformation has been less than stellar and indeed the process has been more a process of patching up an old Alliance than truly adapting it for a new world. This is perhaps unavoidable. The question ultimately is, can a Cold War alliance truly adapt to the post-Cold War world of risks, or would it be merely a process of postponing the Alliance’s inevitable demise? At the moment it appears that the Alliance – and the idea of the West – is slowly coming undone at the seams.
