Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / This thesis examines the evolution of NATO as an institution in the International System by reference to Articles 4, 5 and 6 of the Washington Treaty of 1949. Initially, the thesis considers NATO from an international relations perspective. It then proceeds to examine the institutional evolutionary process of the Alliance since its inception and implementation in 1949. Furthermore, it explores the significance and the meaning of the aforementioned Articles. This thesis utilizes the case study method and refers to four distinct events that have shaped allied policies and strategies: the Suez Crisis of 1956, the establishment of the politico-military consultation process, the Yom Kippur War (1973), and the end of the Cold War (1989-1991). It also examines the allied policies after the events of September 11, 2001. Moreover, it identifies a general pattern of events pertinent to crisis creation inside NATO when the organization is facing a defense issue outside the Euro-Atlantic area. Finally, the thesis concludes that NATO is more than an ordinary military Alliance, as advocated by its longevity, agility and adaptability, which allows the Alliance to maintain a central position in the International System as a robust politico-military organization. / Lieutenant Commander, Hellenic Navy

The times coming with the End of the Cold War were very turbulent. Politicians had to take into the consideration lots of scenarios and the next global trends to make correct decisions. Most of the very numerous visions of the future global order followed more or less the twofold pattern: order or anarchy. "The End of History and the Last Man" and "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order" written by two prominent American political scientists Francis Fukuyama and Samuel P. Huntington and published at the beginning of the 90s are the most representative works that fit into this pattern. These provocative and controversial theories have been criticized and empirically challenged by many on one side, on the other side it hasn't impeded others to use them as a starting point for their next analyses. This dissertation thesis is a contribution to the debate between the dissenters and the supporters of these theories from a predictive point of view. Through the research theoretical methodology it is argued that the examined theories are still valid even nowadays because their theoretical essence (or hard core in the Lakatosian research program) has not been refuted yet. Nevertheless, the hard core of the theories determines their very specific character which puts forward the importance of the factors labelled in the Lakatosian framework as an external history of a science. These factors organized according to the Mehtas criteria of so called strong idea are, especially in the social sciences, decisive for how a theoretical construct is accepted in a broader non-academic context. It is demonstrated that both theories fulfill all criteria to be very influential in practice, although the idea of clash of civilizations is even more powerful in this respect. The specific features of all theories are illustrated on two case studies: Union of South American Nations and Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Firstly, the selection of these case studies is justified and secondly, the anomalies in terms of the Lakatosian methodology are identified and then explained. There have been found no unexplainable anomalies, which practically confirms the validity of both research programs on one side, on the other side it facilitates a better assessment of the studied theories in a sense of their interpretative scope and possibilities.