Introduction: NATO as an object of research
Journal: Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks
Year: 2023

This chapter gives an overview of NATO’s current shape and summarises its contemporary security functions, specifically focusing on the most recent Strategic Concept of June 2022. As well, key challenges to consensus-building, collective action and cohesion, more generally, are discussed. Another part examines how the Alliance is best approached theoretically, making a plea for utilising research programs and paradigms to a greater extent, as they allow for cumulative knowledge creation, which t