NATO has expanded rather than dissolved after the Soviet threat ended.

Evidence

Contrary to these expectations, NATO has added to the list of functions it is prepared to carry out, broadened its ties to other countries and organizations, and is working to expand its membership. — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 15

Categorization

• CANDY: A crisp one-liner capturing the counterintuitive outcome NATO defied expectations by growing.
• XREF: Connects to wider ‘identity persistence beyond founding enemy’ questions the reader is investigating. — connects to: Analysts expected NATO to die once its Soviet enemy vanished. — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 12; NATO officials reconceived the Soviet threat to justify continuing the alliance after its collapse — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 86; NATO redefined the post-Soviet threat as indirect but real to justify persisting. — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 86 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• NATO officials reconceived the Soviet threat to justify continuing the alliance after its collapse #expands (0.92) — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 86
• NATO redefined the post-Soviet threat as indirect but real to justify persisting. #expands (0.90) — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 86
• NATO survived the cold war’s end due to institutionalization, not merely threats #expands (0.88) — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 152
• NATO’s institutionalization beyond mutual defense explains its persistence after its founding threat vanished. #expands (0.86) — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 107
• Alliance cohesion theories predict NATO should have dissolved after the Soviet threat vanished #corroborates (0.85) — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 40
• NATO reoriented itself after the Cold War and stayed valuable without a compelling threat #expands (0.84) — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 29
• NATO formed fast after Nazi surrender but stayed long after its Soviet enemy vanished. #exemplifies (0.82) — Robert B. McCalla, NATO’s persistence after the cold war, 46
• Post-Cold War NATO’s core purpose is preventing renewed Russian control of Central Europe #expands (0.80) — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 434
• Post-Cold War NATO planning redirected from East to southern threats #exemplifies (0.78)
• The removal of the Soviet threat dissolved the Greece-Turkey NATO alliance. #complicates (0.75) — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 336