Stanley R. Sloan is Visiting Scholar in Political Science at Middlebury College, Vermont and a Non-resident Senior Fellow in the Scowcroft Center at the Atlantic Council of the United States
'America's NATO allies are vital for her twenty first-century political and military goals. Sloan's comprehensive study provides rich history, international context, and astute perspectives with which to consider what NATO is today and how it may develop next - all necessary and timely for the US electorate and US President in NATO's sixth decade and beyond. This book will inform and stimulate your understanding of both a successful and challenged NATO alliance.' Lawrence Chalmer, Former Director of the NATO Orientation Course and Professor Emeritus, National Defense University, Washington, D.C. 'For over thirty-five years Stan Sloan has used Harlan Cleveland's concept of the transatlantic bargain with great success in exploring NATO's history. With its emphasis on the problems of the twenty-first century this volume continues his quest. It marks him as the most important American authority in the field of NATO historiography. His book belongs on the shelf of every person interested in the future of the transatlantic relationship.' Lawrence S. Kaplan, Director Emeritus, Lyman L. Lemnitzer Center for NATO and European Union Studies, Kent State University 'Few people understand NATO better than Stan Sloan. Defense of the West provides a uniquely authoritative account of the alliance's history and the many challenges it must address if it is going to continue to contribute to our collective security.' Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London 'The book appears to be aimed at a student audience, as demonstrated by the questions for discussion at the end of each chapter, but its comprehensiveness makes it almost a NATO Handbook.' Michael Ruhle works in NATO's Emerging Security Challenges Division, Nato review magazine May 2017 -- .