NATO and the changing nature of the transatlantic security community

NATO as a political as well as a military alliance has been weakened in recent years. The unilateralist turn in US foreign and defence policies, the evolution of the EU as an even more autonomous actor in international affairs and the ”war” against terrorism have produced effects that are undermining the transatlantic relationship as we know it. The article therefore questions whether it is still correct to argue that the transatlantic relationship is a security community. In the article, security communities are defined as something more than just stable expectations of peaceful settlements of conflicts. A security community also includes common identities, mutual responsiveness and common norms of behaviour. It is underlined that stable expectations of peaceful settlements of conflicts among the countries in the North Atlantic Area will last. However, the US and the Europeans will not, to the same extent as before, regard each other as natural partners in security and defence affairs. What we might be witnessing is an enhanced effort by Europeans to “soft balance” the US via different measures like diplomacy, economic strength etc. to limit the US’ room for manoeuvre. 4