NATO: From Cold War to Ukraine, a History of the World’s Most Powerful Alliance

NATO: From Cold War to Ukraine, a History of the World’s Most Powerful Alliance by Sten Rynning is a thoroughly detailed and well-researched historical account of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). It maps the origins and evolution of the alliance, from the Cold War to contemporary times. The book’s author, Sten Rynning, is an acclaimed expert on all things NATO. He has researched and written on NATO for 25 years, and has previously authored 2 books on NATO: NATO in Afghanistan and NATO Renewed. He is currently a Professor and Director of the Danish Institute for Advanced Study, University of Southern Denmark. Given his extensive experience and knowledge regarding NATO, he is certainly a credible scholar on the topic.
The central theme of the book is how NATO, from its inception to the modern day, has navigated the complex relationship between its internal ambitions and the global landscape. Rynning has divided the book into 4 sections, through which he masterfully recounts the evolution of NATO. Throughout these 4 sections, Rynning emphasises the importance of NATO, which he calls a “testbed for the geopolitical relevance of Western values”. For the US, NATO is a critical resource for maintaining its international leadership role. NATO essentially acts as a vessel for the promotion of American leadership and values worldwide. For Europe, NATO is where it can have a collective voice and exercise real military power. This precarious balance, however, has led to the US becoming the defacto leader of NATO, with NATO allies often being forced to play a supporting role. This has been evident throughout key moments in NATO’s history, such as during the Cold War and the War on Terror.
Rynning gives an in-depth analysis of how NATO was formed, including how the vital Articles of NATO were created through consensus and internal debate amongst allies. Often, NATO allies were at odds with each other, which led to periods of stalled progress. NATO allies have significantly differed in their views surrounding Russia, Germany, nuclear weapons, East-West relations, and a host of major issues. Balancing NATO’s objectives with the allies’ national interests and ambitions has been a challenge since 1949. Rynning mentions that the US, UK, and France all saw themselves as “global powers, not just NATO allies”. The major allies didn’t want NATO restricting their freedom of action. Ultimately, however, NATO was able to overcome these challenges due to the shared values and sense of community amongst the allies. Rynning states, “Power alone is not enough for durable alliances, shared ideas are needed”.
Rynning also details the expansion of NATO over the decades, from the original 12 states to 32 today. Focusing on contemporary times, Rynning analyses the reasons for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, giving both the Western and Russian perspective. He acknowledges that there was a verbal agreement between the Soviet Union and the US regarding NATO’s expansion; if Gorbachev allowed German unification and its membership into NATO, then NATO had promised not to move an inch eastward. However, this agreement was never formalised. Nonetheless, it was NATO’s eastward expansion which eventually caused Russia to invade Ukraine in 2022. Rynning also states that it was NATO’s lack of decisiveness in Ukraine in 2014 and in Iraq against ISIS that ultimately led to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Rynning states that NATO must break its pattern of ambition followed by crisis, which was the case after NATO’s creation in 1949 and after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990-91. In both cases, NATO had grand ambitions for its transformation, but was unable to fulfil those ambitions due to its internal limitations and external factors. Rynning ends his book by suggesting 3 guiding principles for NATO going forward. Firstly, NATO should build on the management of the East-West axis and tailor its policy towards Russia and China from this perspective. Secondly, NATO should counter the risk of always falling back on the US. Lastly, NATO must offer leadership capable of prioritising and delivering real political-military strategies.
Overall, the author does a commendable job in summarising the entire history of NATO into a single, accessible book. Rynning focuses not only on the evolution of NATO as an alliance, but more specifically on the evolution of politico-strategic debate within NATO. He recounts, with remarkable detail, the crucial events and figures that made the formation and growth of NATO possible. He not only mentions the role that the heads of states of the NATO allies played, but also the role played by many unsung heroes. Individuals like Paul-Henri Spaak, André de Staercke, Cordell Hull and others who, although they played crucial roles within NATO, remain relatively unknown outside NATO circles. This definitely gives the book a unique dimension, setting it apart from other works on NATO.
One of the most compelling aspects of Rynning’s book is that he does not shy away from discussing the inherent limitations within NATO, and that the alliance is in need of serious reform. Rynning clearly states the persistent tension between the NATO allies, which was evident from the alliance’s inception and continues today. He recounts the evolution of NATO from the perspective of multiple NATO allies, including the US, UK, France, Germany and others. Rynning skillfully brings the story of NATO to life. Readers gain clear insight into NATO’s values, ideology, and the complexities that define it as an alliance.
Despite its strengths, the book also has a number of shortcomings. Firstly, due to the ambitious task undertaken by the author, to recount both the origins and evolution of NATO from the perspective of multiple allies, he does sacrifice depth for brevity. Although Rynning covers a wide range of topics, from politico-military debate within NATO, to the evolution of nuclear strategy and beyond, the analysis of the topics sometimes feels too general. There are many crucial topics that could and should have been expanded on, such as NATO’s military interoperability in various conflicts, and how global economic recessions and pandemics affected the alliance. The book also focuses on the major NATO allies, which is understandable. However, one barely gets a sense of the perspectives of other allies, such as Türkiye, Spain, Greece and others.
Secondly, the modern context of NATO, following the War on Terror and more recently Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, seems to be much less detailed than the historical analysis. This was somewhat disappointing, as these 2 events were defining moments for the alliance, and are pivotal to understanding NATO’s current role and future challenges. Rynning appears to move quickly through major aspects of NATO’s role in the 21st century. He acknowledges, in the book’s preface, that he was not given much time to write the book. However, a more in-depth focus on these recent developments would have made the book even more comprehensive and engaging.
Additionally, the author’s bias does shine through on several occasions. For example, Rynning states that NATO reflects “the ideology of open institutions and individual freedom”. On multiple occasions, he refers to NATO as a force for good, and NATO’s expansion as the spread of democracy. Referring to Russia and China, Rynning does not look at them favourably, and largely mirrors the official talking points of the US and NATO allies. Similarly, his views often reflect a less critical perspective of Western actions, including how the US and NATO allies have contributed negatively to global peace and prosperity. Therefore, although this book is a tremendous resource on the evolution of NATO, its perspective towards non-NATO states should be taken with a grain of salt.
In conclusion, Sten Rynning’s book, NATO: From Cold War to Ukraine, a History of the World’s Most Powerful Alliance, is an engaging and highly educational read. It is also a timely work, given that NATO’s expansion has played a significant role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The book offers a thoroughly well-researched account of NATO’s past, present, and future. Although the book’s broad scope sometimes limits its depth, it successfully provides an overarching view of NATO’s evolution. The book is an invaluable resource for those wanting to understand the internal debate and tensions within NATO. Rynning’s perspective towards Russia and China, however, should be approached with caution, as his bias is apparent on several occasions. Overall, the book is highly recommended for those interested in global affairs, especially the complexities of international relations, diplomacy, and the role of global alliances.