NATO’s Democratic Retrenchment

Henrik Boesen Lindbo Larsen is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich). He served as a Political Adviser with the EU Delegation to Ukraine and before that with the EU Advisory Mission Ukraine. He was previously a Research Fellow with the Belfer Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School and an EASI-Hurford Fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He completed his PhD jointly between the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) and the University of Southern Denmark and was Visiting Researcher at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law.

"In NATO’s Democratic Retrenchment, Henrik Larsen skillfully weaves neo-classical realism and detailed historical analysis together to explain NATO’s evolution since the end of the Cold War. Although the U.S. desire to use democracy promotion as a tool of foreign policy was paramount, he also shows how past experiences, different strategic circumstances, and the vagaries of domestic politics shaped what key European actors wanted and how they responded. The result is a rich and illuminating account of where NATO has been and where it may be headed." - Stephen M. Walt, Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School"A brilliant achievement: theoretically rich, empirically arresting – written with intelligence, lucidity and a breath-taking width of knowledge. This is one of the few works on NATO that is a truly challenging read." - Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics."A brilliant theoretically and empirically informed work on NATO's advancement of democracy in Europe and beyond since the mid-2000s. Larsen has accomplished the rare feat of producing a work equally useful to policy practitioners and those in the academy. Realists and liberals alike will find compelling arguments about the substantive role the promotion of democratic values have and can still play in NATO's strategy." - Karl W. Eikenberry, Director of the U.S.-Asia Security Initiative at Stanford University, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee."A theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich account of NATO’s evolution since the Cold War’s end. Larsen offers a compelling argument as to why and how a collective defense organization added to its portfolio a prominent focus on promoting democracy. In so doing, he not only offers a fresh take on NATO’s past, present, and future, but also advances our understanding of how the interplay between power, domestic factors, and ideas shapes geopolitics." - Charles A. Kupchan, Professor of International Affairs, Georgetown University, and Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations. "Empirically impressive, theoretically noteworthy, and politically timely. This interesting and well-researched book engages in and stirs debate over what drives NATO strategy in an era of renewed great power politics, the current state of the alliance, and its potential future roles and trajectories in Europe and beyond." - Ulrich Krotz, Professor of International Relations and Director of the Europe in the World programme, European University Institute, Florence"Henrik L. Larsen has provided a much needed study of the role of democracy support in the Eastern European shatter zone where the transatlantic and Eurasian security systems meet. In furthering ‘democratic realism’ and hegemony the book makes a valuable theoretical contribution. It is one of few truly enjoyable reads on the topic." - Asle Toje, Scholar and member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee."Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty." - Choice

• Introduction; PART I. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK; Chapter 1. Realism and democratisation; Chapter 2. Neoclassical realism: stringency and richness; PART II. EASTERN EUROPE; Chapter 3. NATO beside a resurgent Russia; Chapter 4. The shadows of Europe's past; Chapter 5. Explaining NATO in Eastern Europe; PART III. WESTERN BALKANS; Chapter 6. NATO in a patchwork of nationalisms; Chapter 7. Great-power strategies of regional security integration; Chapter 8. Explaining NATO in the Western Balkans; PART IV. AFGHANISTAN; Chapter 9. NATO adapting armed democratisation; Chapter 10. Budgetary dispositions and geopolitical interpretations; Chapter 11. Explaining NATO in Afghanistan; PART V. CONCLUSIONS; Chapter 12. The avenue of democratic realism; Chapter 13. NATO in an illiberal world;