NATO and the Challenge of Sustainable Peacebuilding (Report‪)‬

This piece introduces the concept of sustainable peacebuilding and briefly examines the growing involvement of NATO in peacebuilding operations. It also previews the empirical articles in this special section, explaining how they advance our understanding of the challenges faced by NATO in its peacebuilding efforts. KEYWORDS: NATO, peacebuilding, sustainability. THESE ARE DIFFICULT DAYS FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO). The alliance has been seeking to reinvent itself since the end of the Cold War, including by deploying forces outside of the North Atlantic area--most notably, to the Balkans in the 1990s and Afghanistan in the 2000s. The recent Afghan operation, in particular, has strained relations among alliance members, revealing and exacerbating differences in their respective perceptions of NATO's role in stabilization and peacebuilding missions. As one observer writes, "Cracks are beginning to show in the alliance's commitment and long-term health." (1)