Examines how NATO has adapted and endured after the end of the Cold War transforming itself to deal with a host of new security challenges.Why is it that despite the end of the Cold War and the almost constant controversies surrounding the alliances role in the world the North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO is still a prominent and vital player in international security Joe Burton provides an indepth analysis of NATOs changing role in the postCold War era and its ability to survive adapt and meet the needs of its members in an increasingly turbulent globalized security environment. He offers a historically and theoretically informed account of NATO that isolates the core dynamics that have held the alliance together in troubled times. In particular he examines a series of processes and eventsfrom the 1990 Gulf War to the rise of the Islamic Statethat help explain NATOs continuing relevance.