Seventeenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

In the midst of the NATO Strategic Concept update, a gap opened up with respect to the time horizon to which the document was supposed to give greater weight. On one side, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has become an accomplished global player and is determined to replace in the long term the U.S. and European political, economic, and military presence in the portions of the globe most functional to the goals of the Chinese Dream and national renewal advocated by Xi Jinping. In the short term, on the other, Russian aggression has shifted the Alliance’s focus resolutely back to Eastern Europe with the result of strengthening the voice of those allies – the Baltic countries first and foremost – who kept warning not to scatter resources, undermine cohesion and overlook Moscow’s immediate danger in favor of an Alliance’s tilt toward the Indo-Pacific to contain growing Chinese influence. To assess the prospects for greater Alliance involvement in relation to the “Pacific” threat, China, we proceed by analyzing the changes made with the document approved in Madrid at the end of June 2022 against the national strategic documents and policies of five allies, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany. Finally, we point at areas in which, given the mentioned limitations, NATO could experience greater involvement.