Spaniens och Finlands NATO-inträden : En teoriprövning av hotbalansteorin

Sammanfattning

The creation of military alliances and the mechanisms behind the phenomenon have become more relevant than ever given the current world order. This study aims to test and nuance an already existing theory regarding alliance forming. That theory being Stephen Walt’s “balance of threat theory”. The study is a comparative case study where the cases of Finland’s and Spain’s joining of NATO is examined with Walt’s theory as a theoretical framework. The study finds that Walt’s theory is not enough to explain Spain’s NATO joining in a stringent way. On the other hand, the theory can explain Finland’s joining of NATO. This renders a hypothesis which goes: Domestic political history is a factor which affects states in their decision to either enter an alliance or to refrain from doing so. The study is relevant for officers active in countries which are part of a military alliance who often need to reflect on the purposes of the alliance they are part of. Moreover, knowledge about the subject of alliance forming is necessary when either discussing or explaining the phenomenon to individuals with less knowledge about it.