WarhasreturnedtoEurope,andNATOstandsattheforefrontoftheresponsetoRussia’saggressioninUkraine.ButhowdoesNATOfunction?HowdoNATOmemberstatesperceiveandactthroughtheAtlanticAlliance?AndultimatelyhowdostatesshapeNATO’scohesionandrelevanceinthefaceofthreats?TheNationsofNATOexploresnationalpolicieswithintheAtlanticAlliance.Itexaminestheforeignpoliciesof16allies,focusingonissuessuchastheirstrategiccultures,relationshipwiththeUnitedStates,contributionstoNATOoperations,levelsofdefencespending,domesticchallenges,anddecision-makingprocesses.TherecentcrisisinUkrainehaswithoutdoubtreinvigoratedNATOasamilitaryalliance,butoverthelastdecadeithasalsobeenaffectedbyanumberofchallenges,bothendogenousandexogenous.WhethertheAllianceisthreatenedfromtheoutside(Russia,terrorism,China)orisbeingunderminedfromwithin(intra-Alliancepolitics,divergingthreatperceptions)hasbecomeanincreasinglydebatedissue.ThedegreetowhichtheAlliancecanadapttoevolvingthreatshasalsobeenatstake.AttheheartofthesedebatesareNATOallies’policies,preferences,threatperceptions,andlevelofcommitmenttothesharedenterprise.Byanalysingthedrivers,constraints,andspecificitiesofrelevantnationalpolicies,thevolumeoffersanoverviewofNATO’scontemporaryfunctionsandchallenges,andconstitutesanimportantsourceofdataforfutureresearchandcomparativeanalysis.
