Pressure: How America Runs N. A. T. O.

The NATO states of Western Europe do not control their own security policies. The alliance's dominant member, the USA, influences key decisions by a variety of hidden mechanisms. Any effort by Western European states to alter their security policies in a way the USA finds uncongenial faces a weight of pressure that is usually impossible to resist. In broad terms, this situation is well understood - welcomed by some, bemoaned by others. But the levers of American influence are little known. "Pressure", reveals how and explains why American influence works and breaks new ground, by opening up for public scrutiny a crucial element of Western security policies. Dan Smith is a former vice chairman of CND, a fellow of the Transnational Institute, Amsterdam and a long-standing writer on politico-strategic issues.