The EU, NATO and Europeanisation: The return of architectural debate

In international relations, ideas matter. Not only are ideas important, and rooted in a relationship with interests, but present ideas are shaped by the outcome of past ideational battles. It is the impact of conflict between the ideas of the early 1990s upon the present that concerns this article. The first section of this article suggests that ideas matter. The second then examines the interplay of those ideas of European security in the early 1990s. The third and fourth sections trace the inevitable move to NATO enlargement that arose as a consequence. And the conclusion will examine how this contemporary history has shaped the debates of today.