International alliance is a form of political cooperation between states aimed at achieving a shared goal. Alliances can be used by states to pursue a variety of foreign policy objectives, including promoting peace and security, maintaining economic prosperity, or pursuing their own regional interests. While alliances are commonly associated with the Westphalian system and the European balance of power, they have taken many forms on other continents and in different eras. The Indian king Chandragupta, for example, endorsed the alliance strategy in his classic Artha-shastra (The Science of Material Gain).
Although rare, the most significant vectors of geopolitical power accomplish their goals through a combination and recombination of formal and informal relationships and deeply structured systems – whether the Napoleonic France or Holy Alliance, the Bismarckian arrangements and pre-1914 blocs, fascist and Soviet coalitions, Arab alignments, or the NATO and Five Eyes international security network of today. Managing those networks, and being ready to reengineer them as the geopolitical environment changes, is central to maintaining an effective international order.
As NATO reimagines itself in the post-Cold War period, one of the key questions is how to incorporate new partners into the organization and what the Alliance’s mission should be beyond Europe’s borders. The decision to invite the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia into NATO membership was a significant milestone in this effort, but the Alliance has faced challenges to its integration from within as well. It is an ongoing reminder that alliances are not an unalloyed good and can be costly and risky, even when backed by the tightest treaties and political commitments.
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