NATO against China?
Abstract
The question of China has been increasingly present on NATO’s agenda in recent years, butthe organization’s relationship with the rising eastern power remains ambivalent as memberstates’ positions diverge on the matter. Our study examines whether NATO is apt to dealwith an East Asian state and whether the Alliance has the means to address a non-directthreat like China. After presenting the main paradigms of international relations, the studyargues that the framework of structural realism provides the most suitable perspective fortheoretical and practical predictions. At theoretical level, no qualitative change can beexpected in the NATO-China relations until the general perception of threats among alliesbecomes more specific. Due to the security dilemma arising from this incoherence, in practice,
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