ABSTRACT
This paper argues that NATO has undergone three distinct stages in its evolution, during which it has responded to threats, built capabilities, enlarged and engaged in response to challenges differently. During the same period, the European security environment had undergone substantial change. During the post-Cold War period of 1991-2001, NATO’s collective defense functions shifted towards out-of-area expeditionary operations, and in the post-9/11 period NATO needs to shift its focus toward building barriers against the human traffi cking, drugs and weapons (from small arms to weapons of mass destruction) threats to Europe’s core, and to building bridges to ensure that vital energy supplies freely fl ow from and across the Caspian and Black Seas to Europe. In order to accomplish this task of building barriers and bridges, NATO needs to build a wider regional and broader functional security cooperation that entails the reaching out of its 26 members and implementing a strategic vision with its 23 Partnership for Peace Partners in Europe and beyond.
