The paper explores the impact of reduced defence spending on the security policy of small allies and NATO transformation in the context of US strategic reorientation.
Since 2008, NATO countries have drastically cut defence budgets, which affected their level of ambition and Alliance burden sharing. In light of decreasing US commitment to European security (“pivot” to Asia, declining military presence in Europe, etc.), defence cuts have a profound strategic impact, especially for the small NATO members.
Small nations, which traditionally rely on alliance security guarantees, had to adjust their defence strategies, thus balancing between: (a) greater dependency on NATO/US vs. alternative security providers; (b) free riding vs. maintaining commitments; (c) independent defence vs. specialization, etc.
The paper is based on small state research and the economic theory of alliances, using quantitative (e.g. performance measurement index) and qualitative methods to examine security policies and burden sharing behavior between 2008 and 2012.
