Social network analysis of collective security organizations: The NATO example

This study offers an innovative methodological approach to understanding the structural functioning of security networks, alliance dynamics, and burden-sharing within the context of collective security organizations by examining the explanatory power of social network analysis through the case of NATO. In this framework, the study evaluates how social network analysis contributes to understanding decision-making processes, membership policies, the distribution of defense expenditures, and the strategic roles of actors within collective security organizations. A quantitative method has been adopted in the research. A security network was constructed based on the geographical locations of NATO member states and analyzed using measures such as degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and clustering. This network was weighted with defense expenditure data to allow for flow-based analyses using weighted clustering and prestige metrics. The findings indicate that approaches based on social network analysis offer a comprehensive framework for understanding the structural and functional dynamics of collective security organizations. The impact of actors' positions on security provision and burden-sharing has been made visible. Transformations in the existing network structure caused by enlargement processes and shifts in the strategic roles of certain actors have been systematically revealed. However, the absence of a direct correlation between degree centrality and material contributions also demonstrates the limitations of network analysis in explaining organizational behavior. The results suggest that social network analysis can be a powerful tool for understanding not only structural relations but also strategic orientations. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that social network analysis provides a novel and functional analytical framework for examining the institutional functioning, decision-making processes, and the distribution of security policies within collective defense organizations. Accordingly, analyses based on network data can contribute to a deeper understanding of defense strategies, alliance dynamics, and membership policies for both policy-makers and academic researchers.