NATO and the UN: Partnership with Potential?

Author(s): Michael F Harsh
Publisher(s): Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP)
Date of publication: Jan 2012
Issue number: 2
Pages: 19
Series: SWP Research Papers

Description: Cooperation has become increasingly essential for NATO and the UN to cope with the complex demands of modern crisis management. The organizations’ collaboration has however remained restricted to a limited number of operations of mutual interest. The paper argues that NATO and the UN only cooperate closely under certain conditions: when both sides perceive the need to access external resources to fulfill organizational goals and when they lack politically and financially feasible alternatives. Potential alternatives are the procurement of sufficient capacity and expertise to act independently, or justifying to ‘go it alone’ based on claimed operational necessity or moral imperatives.

General note: © 2012 Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP)

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