Cao Peng-peng
Abstract: As one of the core topics in international security, alliance transformation has been interpreted differently by structural realism, neoliberal institutionalism and constructivism. After the cold war, the applicability of NATO alliance transformation is mainly analysed from either system force interactions, alliance function adjustments or the demands of leading countries. In the meantime, academia has relatively maturer analytical frameworks, i.e. from “balance of power” to “balance of threat” or “balance of interest”, to understand follow-up strategies. The author mainly analyzes the causes and trends of the three Baltic countries’follow-up strategy towards NATO. The paper argues that the three Baltic countries did so to prevent and restrain the security risks of threatening major powers in a situation where the three Baltic countries were constrained by various external and domestic factors after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This paper holds that the system pressure is in continuous change from tension to rapprochement, and the follow-up behavior of the small countries will be changing accordingly.
Key Words: Alliance Transformation; Small Countries Diplomacy; Follow-Up Strategy; NATO Strategy; US-European Relations