NATO Expansion to the East: Is It Worth the Cost and Risk?

Abstract

Abstract : President Clinton articulated his national security strategy as a policy of 'enlargement and engagement,' published in February 1995. This policy has diverse implications as NATO formulates a strategy to accept new members from Eastern and Central Europe. This paper argues that it is in the interest of the United States to offer NATO membership initially to Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia, known as the Visegrad Countries. The question of how and when to expand the Alliance is also discussed. This paper will examine the costs, risks, and benefits of NATO expansion in Central and Eastern Europe for U.S. national security. This study also looks at the United States' core national interests in Europe. Then it assesses the challenges, both threats and opportunities, to these national interests as NATO begins to expand. This will lead into an analysis of the current national security strategy, in terms of national objectives (ends), national strategic concepts (ways), and national resources (means). Finally, a risk assessment of the strategy will generate possible recommendations to changes in the ends, ways, and means to accomplish the administration's goal of a stable Europe through an expanded NATO.