Natopolitanism: The Atlantic Alliance since the Cold War

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the fortunes of NATO, once apparently dwindling, have been miraculously revived. The alliance now has two new member states, in Sweden and Finland; greatly boosted military spending with surging European defense budgets; and more combat ready troops. Yet, deep questions remain regarding the role of NATO expansion itself in triggering the current conflagration on the Eastern border of Europe, and what the role of the alliance should be in a post-Cold War world. Natopolitanism offers a critical reconstruction of NATO's history since the end of the Cold War. Deprived of its antagonist, the alliance found itself pressed into the service of a newly adventurous U.S. foreign policy. Successive waves of expansion accompanied a shift in focus, from the Euro-Atlantic heartlands to a global strategic vision, stretching from the Maghreb to the Khyber Pass and onwards to the South Pacific. At the same time, the principal functions of NATO have remained consistent: to maintain American hegemony over Europe, in particular West Germany, and to check against the vagaries of popular sovereignty in Washington as much as in Europe. Varying in perspective and judgment, the contributors - including Perry Anderson, John J. Mearsheimer, Susan Watkins, Wolfgang Streeck, and Keith Gessen - share a critical perspective at odds with wartime pieties.

Reviews

After Donald Trump brazenly doubted NATO's necessity, the Ukraine war reanimated the zombie. This indispensable collection sets sanctimony to one side, gathering diverse reflections on the alliance's functions and trajectory since the Cold War - including in the coming of the Ukraine war itself. -- Samuel Moyn, Yale University
A bracing critical review of the 'most successful alliance' in history. An essential primer for the new era of Natopolitanism. -- Adam Tooze, author of Crashed

Author Bio

Grey Anderson is an American historian, who holds a doctorate from Yale University (2016). His research focuses on the political and military history of contemporary Europe.