ABSTRACT
This chapter explores that argument, and argues that despite the similarities at the cross-regional level, NATO and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are in fact different, as TTIP does not share the particularities inherent in a military alliance, and is in fact more ambitious in its pretensions of governance than is NATO. A transatlantic trade agreement will certainly help give direction to the relationship, and probably strengthen the security dimension of that relationship, as well as possibly increasing defence spending in the medium to long-term through the security externality effect. The chapter explains the relationship between security and trade in the academic literature and how the USA uses bilateral PTAs to enhance its national security. It focuses on the purpose and functions of the NATO alliance so as to define an economic NATO, and argues that TTIP is not an economic NATO. The chapter explores the greater potential impact of TTIP on transatlantic security, beyond the economic NATO concept.
