NATO has proven its ability to manage the fundamental tasks determining European security. However, two common misperceptions have emerged that predict its demise. The most common fallacy, that NATO must have a clear-cut mission to survive, ignores that even during the Cold War NATO served many functions beyond deterring Soviet aggression. Another widely held misconception is that NATO must formally expand its role to engage in out-of-area disputes if it is to protect European interests in the post-Cold War era. Yet, IFOR shows that informal NATO coalitions have the flexibility to succeed where quasi-automatic action in out-of-area disputes is bound to fail. Perennial strategic tasks, such as managing Russia, reconciling European integration with transatlantic security arrangements, promoting fairer burden sharing between the Allies, and maintaining U.S. engagement in Europe all continue to have relevance. Without NATO, these tasks could not be adequately handled.
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