| The end of the Cold War has had profound implications for the operation of America's principal alliances---NATO and those with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Whereas during the Cold War these alliances were designed primarily to check communist expansion, they are now principally instruments through which U.S. power is exercised and maintained. In other words, the dominant purpose of alliances has shifted from "balance-of-power" to "management-of-power". The attacks of 9/11 served to accelerate this trend. This dissertation seeks to show that in a unipolar world bandwagoning, not balancing, is the most prevalent form of behavior amongst the world's major powers, especially U.S. allies. More specifically, allies seek to associate with the world's sole superpower to gain several benefits in terms of protection, leverage and influence. In turn, through alliances, the United States seeks to stifle any temptation for other states to counterbalance its power, maintain its international leadership and encourage others to share the burden of maintaining international order. These characteristics of alliances are demonstrated in the evolution of allied operations, policies and capabilities in the post-Cold War and post-9/11 eras. If the argument in this dissertation is basically correct, the fundamental nature of alliances is driven by structural forces and should not therefore be affected in any significant way by the change of administration in Washington. |
