Clinton’s enlargement of a military alliance in a time of peace

Resumen o Introducción

This article examines why President Clinton decided to expand NATO, a military alliance that was built to defend against the Soviet Union, an enemy which was already defeated. NATO enlargement is even more interesting considering it was done in a time of peace. The decision to enlarge was largely a surprise. Most alliances either end when their adversary is gone or slowly erode, NATO on the other hand expanded. How President Clinton came to that decision and the reasons he did so are analyzed in this paper. In this paper I argue that Clinton was largely influenced through other players, including key foreign leaders and congressional republicans. He did however have good security reasons to do so as well. The enlargement of NATO had consequences that were both beneficial and detrimental. The positive and negative consequences of the decision to enlarge NATO are looked at through a military strategic, foreign relations, and economic perspective. The military strategic perspective is analyzed in terms of what resources and territorial rights the new countries allow NATO to have. The foreign relations perspective is seen in light in the worsening of U.S.-Russian relations. The economic perspective is looked at how much it costs the alliance financially to expand eastward.