Instrumentalization of NATO in American security policy in the Trump period

In this master's thesis, the use of NATO as an instrument in the US security policy during the Trump Presidency era, within the scope of the relationship between the USA and NATO, is examined in the context of Neoclassical Realism. The priorities and objectives of the US security policy and the policies of NATO have been analyzed. In this context, the US National Security Strategy Document published in 2017 and the NATO 2030 Report published in 2020 were compared, and the similarities between the two policy documents were revealed. The hypothesis of this study is the view that NATO was used as an instrument in US security policy in terms of military, political and economic aspects during the Trump Era. Based on the main policy issues mentioned in the 2017 US National Security Strategy Document and NATO 2030 Report, the study's primary research question determined how NATO was used as a military, political and economic instrument in the US security policy during the Trump Era. This thesis used case study and process-tracing methods from qualitative research methods, and the two documents were analyzed by comparison. As a result, it has been found that the USA uses NATO as an instrument in its foreign policy and directly affects NATO. On the other hand, it has been seen that NATO desires to collaborate by adopting similar policies with the USA.