NATO Review: Western alliances in times of power politics - a review

The return of great power competition is reinvigorating the study of military alliances. In this article, Dr Pilster reviews three remarkable books from recent years: A. Wess Mitchell and Jakub J. Grygiel’s “The Unquiet Frontier” (2017); Mira Rapp-Hooper’s “Shields of the Republic” (2020); and Alexander Lanoszka’s “Military Alliances in the Twenty-First Century” (2022). The authors straddle academia and policy: Lanoszka is a political scientist with a specialisation in alliances; Grygiel, Mitchell, and Rapp-Hooper all served in the US State Department; and Mitchell was co-chair of the independent reflection group on NATO 2030. The common denominator among the three books is that they systematically analyse the benefits, costs, and challenges of the Western alliance system.

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NATO Review is a free online magazine offering expert opinion, analysis and debate on a broad range of security issues. It looks at different aspects of NATO’s role in today’s fast-changing and unpredictable security environment. It also covers wider challenges, such as cyberattacks, hybrid warfare, the impact of social media, the security implications of climate change and scarcity of resources, and the need to strengthen the role of women in peace and security. It is important to note that what is published in NATO Review does not constitute the official position or policy of NATO or member governments. NATO Review seeks to inform and promote debate on security issues. The views expressed by authors are their own. This magazine has existed for 70 years and still upholds the task it was given all those years ago: to 'contribute to a constructive discussion of Euro-Atlantic security issues’.