Public Diplomacy at NATO: An Assessment of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's Leadership of the Alliance

Abstract

An Assessment of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's Leadership of the Alliance" for publication in the Journal of Military and Strategic Studies. The article examines NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's "public" efforts to promote alliance consensus on the issues of Iraq and Sudan during his leadership tenure. Relying upon approximately thirty of his major addresses, coupled with a lexis-nexis search of his speeches and press statements, my findings suggest that de Hoop Scheffer has chosen to be very conservative in his public efforts to push the allies. These findings stand in contrast to other more vocal secretaries general, including Manfred Worner and more recently, George Robertson. The findings also speak to the current challenges in leading an alliance that continues to struggle to find trans-Atlantic consensus on major issues of the day.