The Oxford Handbook of NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has since its foundation in 1949 been the principal body of the Western security order, and remains as important in the 2020s as it was in the 1950s. This Handbook offers the most extensive treatment of the Alliance published in the last two decades, providing detailed coverage of NATO allies, policies, and organizational structures. It brings together internationally renowned scholars who interrogate NATO's actions from historical, theoretical, and empirical perspectives.


The Handbook is divided into nine parts. Following an introductory part offering a thematic overview of NATO, framed by different approaches to domestic politics and global order, the second part explores three broad questions - what is NATO for, who is NATO for, and whither NATO? Part Three is more expressly theoretical, providing multi-perspectival analyses of the Alliance. Part Four then turns to how NATO works as a political-military alliance. Parts Five and Six are concerned with what NATO does in practical terms - how it addresses a wide range of security threats and what operations it has mounted in response. Part Seven looks at some of NATO's most significant allies including France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Part Eight, meanwhile, is concerned with partnerships and key relationships beyond NATO's membership - looking at Australia, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, China, the European Union, and the European neutrals as well as ties to states in the Gulf, the Middle East, and North Africa. The final part of the volume offers reflections on NATO's recent past and possible lines of future development.

James Sperling, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, University of Akron,Mark Webber, Professor of International Politics, University of Birmingham

James Sperling is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science at the University of Akron, having previously taught at Davidson College and at the James Madison College, Michigan State University. He was named Fernand Braudel Senior Fellow at the European University Institute and Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study at the University of Bologna.

Mark Webber is Professor of International Politics at the University of Birmingham. He was Head of the School of Government at Birmingham from 2011 to 2019 and Chair/Honorary President of the British International Studies Association (BISA) from 2019 to 2023. He is a non-resident fellow at the NATO Defence College in Rome.

Part I. Context1. Understanding NATO, James Sperling and Mark Webber2. Global Order, Trine Flockhart3. Domestic Politics, Stephanie C. Hofmann and Michael John WilliamsPart II. Questions4. What is NATO for (Redux)?, Michael Clarke5. Who is NATO for?, Andrew T. Wolff6. Whither NATO? A History of NATO's Futures, Stanley R. SloanPart III. Perspectives7. Realisms, Seth A. Johnston8. Liberalisms, Sebastian Harnisch and Florian Böller9. Security Community: Identity, Practices, and Trust, Alexandra Gheciu10. Gender, Katharine A. M. Wright11. Securitization, Desecuritization, and Just Securitization, Rita Floyd12. Risk, Resilience, and Resistance, Maria Mälksoo13. Visual Discourses of Identity Making, Gabi Schlag14. Strategic Culture, Jordan BeckerPart IV. Strategy, Policy, and Command15. The North Atlantic Treaty, R. James Orr16. Strategy, Lawrence Freedman and Jeffrey H. Michaels17. Doctrine, John R. Deni18. The International Staff, Sebastian Mayer19. Military and Command Structures, Paal Sigurd Hilde20. Defence Planning and Force Generation, Maryann Foster21. Representation and Decision-making, Ian Davis22. The Secretary General, Ryan C. HendricksonPart V. Deterrence, Defence, and Security23. Nuclear Deterrence, David S. Yost24. Ballistic Missile Defence, Stephan Frühling25. Conventional Force Posture, Jens Ringsmose26. Cybrid Warfare, Julian Lindley-French27. Non-Traditional Security Threats, Jamie Shea28. COVID-19, Crisis Management, and Civil Emergency Response, Cornelia Baciu29. Emerging and Disruptive Technologies, James Sperling30. Burden-sharing, Benjamin ZylaPart VI. Operations31. Bosnia, Jonathan Marcus32. Kosovo, Martin A. Smith33. Libya, Kjell Engelbrekt and Braxton Palmer34. Afghanistan, Sten Rynning35. Maritime Operations, Brooke A. Smith-Windsor36. Counter-terrorism and Projecting Stability, Thierry Tardy37. Forward Deployment and Reassurance, Linde Desmaele and Luis SimónPart VII. Key Allies38. The United States, James Goldgeier39. The United Kingdom, Andrew M. Dorman and Matthew Uttley40. France, Olivier Schmitt41. Germany, Tom Dyson42. Italy, Luca Ratti43. Poland, Wojciech Lorenz44. Turkey, Tarik OguzluPart VIII. Key Relationships45. Partnerships, Magnus Petersson46. The European Union, Richard G. Whitman47. The European Neutrals, Andrew Cottey48. Georgia and Ukraine, Tracey German49. The Mediterranean Dialogue, Alessandro Marrone50. The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, Eleonora Ardemagni51. Australia, Ben Schreer52. Russia, Roland Dannreuther53. China, Andrew Cottey and Mark WebberPart IX. Conclusion54. NATO's Redoubled Relevance, Alexander Moens and Alexandra Richards