Journals / Uluslararası İlişkiler ve Diplomasi / 2026 / Cilt: 9 Sayı: 1

BEYOND COLLECTIVE DEFENSE: NATO IN AN ERA OF CRITICAL THEORY AND ASYMMETRIC THREATS

KOLEKTİF SAVUNMANIN ÖTESİNDE: ELEŞTİREL TEORİ VE ASİMETRİK TEHDİTLER ÇAĞINDA NATO

Pages
37–49
Publication Date
2026-06-30
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

As a result, it is assessed that NATO, in the face of changing threat perceptions and economic sustainability crises, must transform from being solely a military alliance into a regional and thematic security architecture.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This study analyzes the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) within the framework of critical theories in the discipline of international relations and economic models of alliances.
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Key Findings & Data:Since the 1980s, the rise of feminism, post-positivism, and critiques of neorealism (Ashley, Foucault, Tickner, etc.) has opened the rationalist and male-dominated structure of traditional security architectures to questioning.
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Conclusion & Impact:As a result, it is assessed that NATO, in the face of changing threat perceptions and economic sustainability crises, must transform from being solely a military alliance into a regional and thematic security architecture.
🔬Design:Modeling & Simulation
📍Scope:2020 Verileri
⚙️Variables:NATO · Eleştirel Teoriler · İttifak Ekonomisi

Abstract

This study analyzes the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) within the framework of critical theories in the discipline of international relations and economic models of alliances. Since the 1980s, the rise of feminism, post-positivism, and critiques of neorealism (Ashley, Foucault, Tickner, etc.) has opened the rationalist and male-dominated structure of traditional security architectures to questioning. In the study, concurrently with these theoretical critiques, imbalances in burden-sharing within NATO are examined through Todd Sandler’s approach to the economics of alliances. It is argued that, particularly in the post-2020 period, the increase in asymmetric threats and the emergence of new domains such as supply chain sustainability, cybersecurity, and space security have transformed the definition of collective security. Drawing on the concept of “rupture” emphasized by Carney in his 2026 Davos speech, the strategic autonomy pursuits and balancing policies of middle powers such as Türkiye, Germany, and Canada are addressed as case studies. As a result, it is assessed that NATO, in the face of changing threat perceptions and economic sustainability crises, must transform from being solely a military alliance into a regional and thematic security architecture.

Özet

Bu çalışma, Kuzey Atlantik Antlaşması Örgütü’nün (NATO) geleceğini, uluslararası ilişkiler disiplinindeki eleştirel teoriler ve ekonomik ittifak modelleri çerçevesinde analiz etmektedir. 1980’li yıllardan itibaren yükselişe geçen feminizm, post-pozitivizm ve neorealizm eleştirileri (Richard Ashley, Michel Foucault, Ann Tickner vb.), geleneksel güvenlik mimarilerinin rasyonalist ve erkek egemen yapısını sorgulamaya açmıştır. Çalışmada, bu teorik eleştirilerle eş zamanlı olarak, Todd Sandler’ın ittifaklar ekonomisi yaklaşımı üzerinden NATO içindeki mali yük paylaşımı dengesizlikleri incelenmektedir. Özellikle 2020 sonrası dönemde asimetrik tehditlerin artışı, tedarik zinciri sürdürülebilirliği, siber güvenlik ve uzay güvenliği gibi yeni alanların kolektif güvenlik tanımını dönüştürdüğü savunulmaktadır. Mark Carney’nin 2026 Davos konuşmasında vurguladığı "kopuş" (rupture) kavramından hareketle; Türkiye, Almanya ve Kanada gibi orta güçlerin stratejik özerklik arayışları ve denge politikaları vaka olarak ele alınmaktadır. Sonuç olarak NATO’nun, değişen tehdit algıları ve ekonomik sürdürülebilirlik krizleri karşısında sadece askeri bir ittifak olmaktan çıkarak, bölgesel ve tematik bir güvenlik mimarisine dönüşmek zorunda olduğu değerlendirilmektedir.

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Cite This Article

Özbek, C. A. (2026). BEYOND COLLECTIVE DEFENSE: NATO IN AN ERA OF CRITICAL THEORY AND ASYMMETRIC THREATS. Uluslararası İlişkiler ve Diplomasi, Cilt: 9 Sayı: 1, 37–49. https://doi.org/10.51763/uid.1926015

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