ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the institutional manifestation of the western alliance – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Bradley Klein, in a number of works, makes the claim for NATO as a means by which its member-states have formed a collective political identity and community. Klein's work on NATO can, and should be, bookended by similar work done earlier in time, as well as anything contemporary to locate him within a body of scholarship. The first of these will be Karl Deutsch, whereas the contemporary work will be John Ruggie's work on institutions and multilateralism. Ruggie might conclude that the transformation of NATO by way of its process of enlargement can only succeed if the organization is grounded not only in material capabilities, but also a strong sense of collective identity. The work of Klein, more so than that of Ruggie and Deutsch, is premised upon a certain and specific theoretical position with respect to discourse analysis.
