NATO’s expanded ties to outside organizations fit institutionalist expectations better than organizational ones.

Evidence

NATO members also have used NATO as a way of dealing with European security issues as they relate to the European Union, OSCE, and former Warsaw Pact states. Member states have continued their individual ties to these groups and states, but NATO has allowed them to present and protect their interests in ways that they might not achieve unilaterally. These behaviors go substantially beyond organizational expectations, which imply a hostility to—or at least suspicion of—sharing activities with other organizations (since such sharing might create greater interdependence and thus limit organizational autonomy). The expanded ties to other organizations, as well as the creation of multiple ways to strengthen ties to nonmembers (NACC and PfP), and the possible inclusion of new members are all consistent with the international institutionalist argument. — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 132

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the reader’s paper: NATO functioned as members’ instrument for engaging EU/OSCE/former Warsaw Pact states, i.e., a tool whose usefulness survived the Soviet collapse by being re-deployed against new coordination problems. — connects to: High institutionalization distinguishes NATO from traditional alliances. — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 107; Deeply institutionalized alliances outlast ad hoc ones against realist expectations — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 161; NATO adapts tasks to persist, as organizational resources enable institutional survival. — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 106 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• High institutionalization distinguishes NATO from traditional alliances. #expands (0.82) — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 107
• NATO adapts tasks to persist, as organizational resources enable institutional survival. #complicates (0.80) — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 106
• Deeply institutionalized alliances outlast ad hoc ones against realist expectations #corroborates (0.78) — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 161
• NATO positioned itself among rival security organizations to prove its continued relevance #expands (0.74) — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 128