NATO’s role in the European Union’s success

James Goldgeier, the dean here at American University’s School of International Service, makes the case that NATO gets a lot of credit for the EU’s success. He sees the Balkans as important recent evidence that the alliance has had as much to do with peace in Europe as the Union: Then there is Bosnia. The ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

James Goldgeier, the dean here at American University's School of International Service, makes the case that NATO gets a lot of credit for the EU's success. He sees the Balkans as important recent evidence that the alliance has had as much to do with peace in Europe as the Union:

James Goldgeier, the dean here at American University’s School of International Service, makes the case that NATO gets a lot of credit for the EU’s success. He sees the Balkans as important recent evidence that the alliance has had as much to do with peace in Europe as the Union:

Then there is Bosnia. The war in the early 1990s raged for nearly four years. The United States hoped that the European Union would stop the carnage inflicted by the Serbian government and its allies, but the organization had neither the will nor the capability to do so. In 1995, the United States led NATO to end the war and help promote the peace. It was not the European Union that put an end to the most horrific violence since World War II. It was not the European Union that ended a genocide reminiscent of the crimes committed by the Nazis. It was NATO, just as it was four years later when the Kosovar Albanians were under assault by the Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic.

We should celebrate all that the European Union has done, and the Nobel Peace Prize committee clearly wanted to send a signal that European leaders cannot let the current economic crisis lead to an unraveling of what their predecessors achieved. But peace in Europe has not simply been the result of greater prosperity, it has also been the prerequisite for economic growth. U.S. leadership of NATO helped make both peace and prosperity possible.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

Tags: EU, NATO

More from Foreign Policy

Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.
Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America

The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.
Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense

If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War

Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.
An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests

And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.