Does a Promise to Join or Joining NATO Impact Military Spending Patterns of Countries

Abstract

Abstract : The purpose of this thesis is to find similarities and analyze the changes in military spending (patterns and its structure) of the countries that joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the past 15 years. The thesis will address the following issues: 1. Whether NATO membership, or a promise to join NATO, impact a country's budgetary behavior and its defense resource allocation the same for all countries, or whether it differs by country, by examining changes in the spending structure five years before joining NATO and after joining NATO. 2. Determine if there are any common spending patterns among the countries. The author will analyze the military expenditure data for Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Albania, Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), cross comparing country data using quantitative analysis (correlation, R-square and t-test for means). The goal is to draw conclusions for whether the spending patterns and trends for the countries mentioned above are moving in the same directions. Does the percentage of GDP allocated for defense needs change in the same pattern for these countries? Are the spending patterns among groups of countries who joined NATO similar, or is there no evidence of change in budgetary behavior due to joining (or promising to join) NATO?