The notion of extra-institutionalism in the framework of EU – NATO cooperation
https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6339-2025-4-71-87
Abstract
This article analyses European Union-NATO extra-institutional cooperation, how informal mechanisms and practices complement formal structures and procedures, allowing both organisations to respond more flexibly and effectively to security challenges. The main benefits of extra-institutional cooperation are highlighted, including, above all, increased speed, flexibility, reduced costs and confidentiality. The EU and NATO state that they seek a “strategic partnership”. However, there are potential problems that could hinder the relationship between the two. In an international community faced with insurmountable challenges such as war and armed conflict, international terrorism, migration crisis, modern piracy, cybercrime and global acts of God, it is crucial to see how effective inter-organisational cooperation, including at the informal level, is proving to be.
About the Author
N. A. Potevskii
MGIMO University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Nikita A. Potevskii, postgraduate student
76, Vernadsky Av., Moscow, 119454
References
1. Ataev, T. (1973), SShA, NATO i Turtsiya, [USA, NATO and Turkey], Progress, Moscow, USSR.
2. Batalov, E.Ya. (2016), “New institutionalization of world politics”, International Trends, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 6–25.
3. Blagden, D. and Thomson, C. (2018), “A very British national security state: formal and informal institutions in the design of UK security policy”, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, vol. 20, iss. 3, pp. 573–593.
4. Borgwardt, C., McKnight Nichols, C. and Nichols Preston, A., eds. (2021), Rethinking American grand strategy, Oxford University Press, New York, USA.
5. Brie, M. and Stolting, E. (2013), “Formal institutions and informal institutional arrangements”, in Christiansen, T. and Neuhold, C., eds., International handbook on informal governance, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK, pp. 19–40.
6. DiMaggio, P.J. and Powell, W.W., eds. (1991), The new institutionalism in organizational analysis, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, USA.
7. Graeger, N. (2014), “Security. EU – NATO relations: informal cooperation as a common lifestyle”, in Orsini, A., ed., The European Union with(in) international organizations commitment, consistency and effects across time, Routledge, London, UK, pp. 157–179.
8. Graeger, N. (2016), “European security as practice: EU – NATO communities of practice in the making?”, European Security, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 478–501.
9. Graeger, N. (2017), “Grasping the everyday and extraordinary in EU – NATO relations: the added value of practice approaches”, European Security, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 340–358.
10. Graeger, N. and Todd, J. (2015), “Still a ‘strategic’ EU – NATO partnership? Bridging governance challenges through practical cooperation”, Policy Paper, no. 21, iss. 123, pp. 1–8.
11. Hall, P. and Taylor, R.S.R. (1996), “Political science and the three new institutionalisms”, Political Studies, vol. 44, iss. 5, pp. 936–957.
12. Istomin, I.A. (2021), Logika povedeniya gosudarstv v mezhdunarodnoi politike [The logic of state behavior in international politics], Nauka, Moscow, Russia.
13. Keohane, R., Nye, J. (1973), Transnational relations and world politics, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, USA.
14. Koening, N. (2018), The EU and NATO: A partnership with a glass ceiling, Instituto Affari Interazionali, EU Global Strategy Watch, available at: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/intelligent-defense/ (Accessed 10 Nov. 2024).
15. Kozhokin, E.M. (1997), “In search of a new philosophy of security”, Otkrytaya politika, no. 5, pp. 64–72.
16. Krasner, S., ed. (1983), International regimes, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA.
17. Lipson, C. (1991), “Why are some international agreements informal?”, International Organization, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 495–538.
18. Meyer, J. and Rowan, B. (1977), “Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony”, American Journal of Sociology, vol. 83, no. 2, pp. 340–363.
19. Shveitser, V.Ya., ed. (2009), Gosudarstva Al’piiskogo regiona i strany Benilyuks v menyayushcheisya Evrope [Alpine and Benelux states in a changing Europe], Ves mir, Moscow, Russia.
20. Starkin, S.V. (2013), “EU – NATO cooperation: factors of institutional interaction”, Vestnik NGTU im. R.E. Alekseeva. Seriya “Upravlenie v sotsial’nykh sistemakh. Kommunikativnye tekhnologii”, no. 4, pp. 26–32.
21. Walt, S.M. (1987), The Origin of alliances, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA.
22. Yost, D.S. (2007), NATO and international organizations, NATO Defense College, Rome, Italy. (Forum Papers Series)
Review
For citations:
Potevskii N.A. The notion of extra-institutionalism in the framework of EU – NATO cooperation. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin Series "Political Science. History. International Relations". 2025;(4):71-87. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6339-2025-4-71-87
Views:
7
Email this article 