NATO’s Secretary-General pushed roles beyond its founding mission against member reluctance

Evidence

Worner, realizing that NATO needed to keep up with international change, took the lead in pushing for new roles. Prior to the Rome summit in November 1991, Worner expressed “personal” views—a move recognized by insiders as criticism by the Secretary-General of the alliance of which he was the head—about the need for NATO to move “out of area” and take greater responsibility for ensuring stability in Eastern Europe, a view not widely shared by member governments. NATO officials began working in early 1992 to devise and implement plans for NATO’s expansion into Central Europe, reportedly as a way of undermining WEU and OSCE efforts in this area. In the summer of 1992, Worner argued that NATO should become a peacemaker rather than just a peacekeeper—but these were again personal views. — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 90

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in how institutions acquire new missions when their founding purpose fades — the Secretary-General serving as an institutional entrepreneur pushing ‘out of area’ roles. — connects to: NATO’s post-cold-war peacekeeping let members act indirectly on concerns without leading. — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 129

Broader Connections

• NATO’s post-cold-war peacekeeping let members act indirectly on concerns without leading. #expands (0.78) — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 129