What Actually NATO Means for Them? Turkish and Romanian Historical Perceptions on NATO
What Actually NATO Means for Them? Turkish and Romanian Historical Perceptions on NATO

Summary/Abstract: Since the end of the Cold War, remarkable changes have occurred in international systemic dynamics. Although these changes are mostly imagined on the axis of polarity in terms of international relations, the changes in the missions and visions of international organizations are also noteworthy. In this context, NATO, a Cold War organization, is among the first examples that come to mind. To put it more clearly, NATO has gone beyond being a mere security organization and has gained different missions from nation building to humanitarian aid. On the other hand, the organization, which increased the number of allies, accepted a significant part of its ‘old enemies’ as its ‘new friends’. In this context, it is considered extremely important to compare the perceptions of an old ‘friend’ of the organization like Türkiye and a relatively new ‘friend’ of the organization like Romania towards NATO. This comparison provides an insight into NATO’s perceptions of its allies; on the other hand, it provides a test of the perceptions of two nation-states in two different blocs towards NATO during the Cold War period. This study aims to investigate both Türkiye’s and Romanian’s perceptions on NATO by considering the modernization and westernization concepts in the sense of security.

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