1st Edition
Transforming NATO in the Cold War Challenges beyond Deterrence in the 1960s
The first comprehensive history of NATO in the 1960s, based on the systematic use of multinational archival evidence.
This new book is the result of a gathering of leading Cold War historians from both sides of the Atlantic, including Jeremi Suri, Erin Mahan, and Leopoldo Nuti. It shows in great detail how the transformation of NATO since 1991 has opened up new perspectives on the alliance’s evolution during the Cold War. Viewed in retrospect, the 1960s were instrumental to the strengthening of NATO's political clout, which proved to be decisive in winning the Cold War – even more so than NATO's defense and deterrence capabilities.
In addition, it shows that NATO increasingly served as a hub for state, institutional, transnational, and individual actors in that decade. Contributions to the book highlight the importance of NATO's ability to generate "soft power", the scope and limits of alliance consultation, the important role of common transatlantic values, and the growing influence of small allies. NATO's survival in the crucial 1960s provides valuable lessons for the current bargaining on the purpose and cohesion of the alliance.
This book will be of much interest to students of international history, Cold War studies and strategic studies.
Editor’s Acknowledgements List of contributors Preface Lawrence S. Kaplan Part I: Introduction 1. New Perspectives on NATO History Andreas Wenger, Christian Nuenlist, and Anna Locher Part II: The Atlantic Community: The Promise of Alliance 2. The Normative Resilience of NATO: A Community of Shared Values amid Public Discord Jeremi Suri 3. Not a NATO Responsibility? Psychological Warfare, the Berlin Crisis, and the Formation of Interdoc Giles Scott-Smith 4. Beyond NATO: Transnational Elite Networks and the Atlantic Alliance Thomas W. Gijswijt Part III: NATO, de Gaulle, and Détente 5. Into the 1960s: NATO’s Role in East-West Relations, 1958–63 Christian Nuenlist 6. Through the Looking Glass: The Berlin Crisis and Franco-American Perceptions of NATO, 1961–63 Erin Mahan 7. A Crisis Foretold: NATO and France, 1963–66 Anna Locher Part IV: Nuclear Dilemmas: NATO Consultation and Social Protest 8. Diverging Perceptions of Security: NATO, Nuclear Weapons, and Social Protest Holger Nehring 9. From Hardware to Software: The End of the MLF and the Rise of the Nuclear Planning Group Andrew Priest 10. NATO and the Non-Proliferation Treaty: Triangulations between Bonn, Washington, and Moscow Oliver Bange Part V: Changing Domestic Perspectives on NATO 11. Striving for Détente: Denmark and NATO, 1966–67 Jonathan Søborg Agger 12. A Decade of Delusions and Disappointments: Italy and NATO in the 1960s Leopoldo Nuti Part VI: Conclusion 13. NATO’s Transformation in the 1960s and the Ensuing Political Order in Europe Andreas Wenger Index
Biography
Andreas Wenger, Christian Nuenlist, Anna Locher