Introduction: the shift to anti-pluralism

On 23 April 1999, in Washington DC, Nato celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. The organisation had been created in 1949 with the purpose of defending western Europe from the threat of Soviet invasion. At a dinner held that evening, the leaders of Nato states gave speeches outlining their agenda for the future of the institution. It was clear from these speeches that both the ambit of Nato's activities and the range of its self-images had expanded quite considerably since 1949. For some, Nato had, like the Concert of Europe, come to embody a particular set of values. British Prime Minister gTony Blair, reflecting the comments made by European leaders at Chaumont and Langres 185 years before, trumpeted: ‘The shared values of democracy, the rule of law, and human rights make Nato more than a military alliance. They are the practical embodiment of trans-Atlantic unity.’ Others in Washington emphasised the idea of Europe as a zone of peace. Vaclav Havel characterised Europe as an expanding, universalising sphere whose enlargement ‘signifies the real and definitive end of the imposed division of Europe and the world’.