ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines briefly the changes in the global political-security environment in which the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) must perform. It considers problems within the alliance framework that impeded an effective response to the challenges posed by such changes. The chapter suggests how NATO might begin to respond to the challenges that lie ahead. It shows the need for a reorientation in NATO's outlook that will facilitate the achievement of the alliance's goals in the future. Shifts in the military balance between East and West are not the only change in the contemporary environment that should create concern in NATO councils. Although the world is changing externally, the NATO alliance is also changing internally. It remains difficult for the alliance to accept German leadership, especially when the Federal Republic of Germany remains the most vulnerable and highly exposed member of NATO.
