Opening NATO's Door: How the Alliance Remade Itself for a New Era (A Council on Foreign Relations Book)

This book recounts the process by which American diplomats and policymakers, against formidable odds both at home and abroad, implemented some of the most far-reaching changes in U.S. strategy toward Europe in decades and helped create a new security structure for Europe in the twenty-first century. In his conclusion, Asmus addresses NATO's future in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States. How and why did NATO, a Cold War military alliance created in 1949 to counter Stalin's USSR, become the cornerstone of new security order for post-Cold War Europe? Why, instead of retreating from Europe after communism's collapse, did the U.S. launch the greatest expansion of the American commitment to the old continent in decades? Written by a high-level insider, __Opening NATO's Door__ provides a definitive account of the ideas, politics, and diplomacy that went into the historic decision to expand NATO to Central and Eastern Europe. Drawing on the still-classified archives of the U.S. Department of State, Ronald D. Asmus recounts how and why American policy makers, against formidable odds at home and abroad, expanded NATO as part of a broader strategy to overcome Europe's Cold War divide and to modernize the Alliance for a new era. Asmus was one of the earliest advocates and intellectual architects of NATO enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe after the collapse of communism in the early 1990s and subsequently served as a top aide to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Deputy Secretary Strobe Talbott, responsible for European security issues. He was involved in the key negotiations that led to NATO's decision to extend invitations to Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, the signing of the NATO-Russia Founding Act, and finally, the U.S. Senate's ratification of enlargement. Asmus documents how the Clinton Administration sought to develop a rationale for a new NATO that would bind the U.S. and Europe together as closely in the post-Cold War era as they had been during the fight against communism. For the Clinton Administration, NATO enlargement became the centerpiece of a broader agenda to modernize the U.S.-European strategic partnership for the future. That strategy reflected an American commitment to the spread of democracy and Western values, the importance attached to modernizing Washington's key alliances for an increasingly globalized world, and the fact that the Clinton Administration looked to Europe as America's natural partner in addressing the challenges of the twenty-first century. As the Alliance weighs its the future following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. and prepares for a second round of enlargement, this book is required reading about the first post-Cold War effort to modernize NATO for a new era. Contents List of Illustrations Foreword Acknowledgments Note on Sources Introduction Book I THE ORIGINS 1. An Ambiguous Pledge 2. Dismantling Yalta 3. Aligning with the West Book II THE DEBATE BEGINS 1. Russia First 2. Making the Case 3. "We Need a Perspective" 4. The Partnership for Peace Book III ACROSS THE RUBICON 1. An Ambiguous Decision 2. Shifting Gears 3. Pressure from the Right 4. Holbrooke's Return 5. Across the Rubicon Book IV ESTABLISHING THE DUAL TRACK 1. Establishing the NATO Track 2. A Parallel Track with Moscow 3. The May-for-May Deal 4. The Political Battle Heats Up 5. Bosnia and NATO Enlargement Book V TOWARD A NEW NATO 1. On the Back Burner 2. Sleeping with the Porcupine 3. Tough Love for Central and Eastern Europe 4. Ukraine and the Baltic States 5. "A Long Dance with Natasha" Book VI THE NATO-RUSSIA ENDGAME 1. Madeleine's Vision 2. Chancellor Kohl Comes Through 3. The Road to Helsinki 4. Breakthrough at Helsinki 5. Playing Both Sides of the Chessboard Book VII HEAD-TO-HEAD AT MADRID 1. Sintra 2. Playing the Heavy 3. A Baltic Challenge 4. Madrid 5. The Final Compromise Book VIII THE POLITICAL BATTLE 1. Creating a Command Post: The Birth of S/NERO 2. The Campaign Starts 3. Dancing with Jesse Helms 4. New Members and New Missions 5. The Endgame CONCLUSION Notes Index with the Soviet bloc was disappearing! Rarely has someone witnessed the vanishing of one of his academic research topics with a greater sense of satisfaction.