This thesis reports the results of an attempt to assess the influence of two variables, national power base and degree of external threat, on the cohesion of international alliances. Two specific modern alliances are examined: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Pact. The findings indicate that the expected relationships between power base and alliance cohesion, and between external threat and alliance cohesion, hold true only for certain types of alliance members. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate