Coercion, consensus, and capability
The Warsaw Pact and the institutional limits of Nato and EU defence coordination
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11157609 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bence Nemeth (0000-0001-9452-1197, King's College London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-32 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-17 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Strategic Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0140-2390 • E-ISSN: 1743-937X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01402390.2026.2639391 |
| OpenAlex | W7137992115 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 33 |
This article assesses the institutional limits of multilateral defence coordination by comparing the Warsaw Pact with NATO and the EU across capability planning, industrial policy and regional investment. Treating the Warsaw Pact as an upper-bound case of enforced integration, it contrasts its coercive, hierarchical mechanisms with the consensus-based frameworks used in NATO and the EU. The analysis shows that although coercion can raise baseline cooperation, it cannot overcome enduring asymmetries of political economy, national preferences and geography that also constrain NATO and the EU. The article concludes that institutional design cannot offset divergent interests, economies and strategic geographies
European union · Foreign policy · International relations · Strategic studies · European and Russian Geopolitical Military Strategies · European Politics and Security · European Union Policy and Governance
Allies That Count
Rediscovering geography in Nato defence planning
Cooperation and conflict in the European defence-industrial field
Transatlantic cooperation in flux
The Nato-Warsaw Pact competition in the 1970s and 1980s
Face to face
Neorealism, Security Cooperation, and Europe's Relative Gains Dilemma
Cooperation and non cooperation in European defence procurement
Illusions of Autonomy
Making sense of European armaments policies
Offensive defence in the Warsaw pact
Romania and the Warsaw pact
The failure of defense planning in European Post-Communist Defense Institutions
The State of Nato
The Warsaw Pact today
Nato at 75
Budget Crunch
Military Spending in the USSR
The return to collective defence
From Liberalisation to Industrial Policy
The Security Dilemma in Alliance Politics
Why Alliances Entangle But Seldom Entrap States
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |