Integration and Disintegration in NATO

“Thorough, detailed, and authoritative.” —Social Science Quarterly

“Mr. Beer’s detailed and highly critical study of integration stresses the gap between theory and reality. . . . This book is written for the serious student . . . [and] all will appreciate the useful reference notes. The bleak conclusion will contribute to further consideration of an important subject.” —International Affairs

A foundational analysis that remains essential as NATO faces new existential threats.

Francis A. Beer’s classic study of NATO, first published in 1969 at the critical time of French withdrawal, focuses on processes of Atlantic alliance cohesion and implications for cross-Atlantic relationships. At the present time, as NATO faces existential threats in the form of fresh attacks and skepticism, Beer’s foundational analysis remains essential. He surveys five key areas of alliance activity: political consultation, military forces, armaments, infrastructure, and science. Across each, he identifies a recurring pattern: nationalism, self-interest, and state-level dominance repeatedly constrain and often work against collective action, even in areas where technical logic might otherwise unify coalition members.

Significant support for cooperation, Beer argues, can emerge during periods of international crisis, when member states are pressed to set aside individual concerns for common security. International crises are challenging but need not be destructive. To the contrary, crises provide opportunities for creative institutional leadership. As the book shows, a well-articulated ideology, connected to variable coalitions in different issue areas, can bring members together to maintain and build collective political-military institutions.

Francis A. Beer is Professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he directed the Conflict and Peace Studies Program. He has published such books as Alliances: Latent War Communities in the Contemporary World, Peace Against War: The Ecology of International Violence, Post-Realism: The Rhetorical Turn in International Relations, Meanings of War and Peace, and Metaphorical World Politics.

Contents

Introduction
CHAPTER 1
Political Consultation in NATO 12
CHAPTER 2
NATO Military Forces: Integration 47
CHAPTER 3
NATO Military Forces:Leadership, Functionalism, and Spill-over 93
CHAPTER 4
NATO Armaments 131
CHAPTER 5
NATO Infrastructure 176
CHAPTER 6
NATO Science 204
CHAPTER 7
NATO: Past and Future 239
Appendixes 271
Notes 280
Index 315