NATO Global Perceptions – Views from the Asia-Pacific Region

In a world characterized by shifts in global power, NATO’spartnerships–inEurope as well as elsewhere–are critical for the organization. Yet the question ofhow the Alliance’s global partners perceive NATO in the context of cooperativesecurity, collective defence, and crisis management–including NATO’sgoals,operational capacity, functional capability, and influence–remains impressio-nistic and under-addressed. This paper launches discussion about images andperceptions of NATO in the alliance’s five global partners in the Asia-Pacific(Australia, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea). It treatsperceptions as key factors behind global expectations of NATO, and as a keycultural filter triggering a range of its partners’reactions to NATO’sglobalinitiatives. The paper sets out and explains the theoretical framework used forthe Special Issue, Miskimmon et al.’s‘strategic narrative’theory, and explainshow each of the articles respectively emphasize the formation, projection/com-munication and reception of NATO’s strategic narratives in the region.Contributions focus on external perceptions, images, and narratives of NATOafter the end of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission inAfghanistan, and post-Crimea, and are discussed in a post-US election context.