Kay Response

Kay's discussion of NATO's response to the Serbian attacks in Kosovo brought up a lot of interesting points regarding the impact of international institutions on the ability to wage war, as well as their overall impact. In this specific case, Kay asserts that the United States would have waged war against the Serbians in one way or another, whether NATO or the UN was on board or not, and would have probably been more efficient on its own. Due to the bureaucratic nature of NATO, everything was handled wrong.

Using this example to demonstrate the role that international institutions play in the ability to wage war is not entirely fair because, as Kay mentioned, it is an institution without a purpose. It was created in a different world with a different set of problems. During the Cold War when there was a bipolar world, NATO was an alliance between the United States and its Western European allies. NATO is now trying to place itself in a new role in which it does not belong and thus does not fill that role effectively.

Kay was correct in saying "the result is that the key scholarly question may not be NATO's adaptation, but rather what institutional form is best suited to replace NATO." Neoliberalism cannot fully be criticized by NATO's deficiency now. Rather, if NATO ever was a well functioning institution then it proves that international institutions can play a positive role in world politics, and the fact that it failed to transition with the ever-shifting international order is a separate issue. Kay said that "the legacy of the Kosovo war has been a rapid decline in the relevance of NATO for its most important member, the United States and for some European allies now prioritizing the European Union." If NATO declines as it's ineffectiveness becomes clear in order to make way for other more effective institutions then it is a good sign for the neoliberalism. It would help to prove that international institutions exist for a real purpose and have a real impact, but if NATO continues exist without purpose then it will hard to make the case for a neoliberal point of view.