Economic Aspects of Coalition Diplomacy—the NATO Experience

The very notion that coalition diplomacy possesses economic aspects implies a concept of coalition as a form of international organization reaching well beyond the classical political and military alliance. An alliance normally commits each member to join with its partners if any of them is involved in hostilities. It may be solely defensive or both offensive and defensive. Whatever its scope, it takes as given the military establishment of each member and the economic resources each is prepared to devote to building its military strength. A government may feel that possession of reliable allies permits the meeting of its security interests with less effort and at less cost than being entirely on its own, but this is a matter for independent decision by each member, calling neither for consultation nor for planned joint effort.