North Macedonia’s NATO Membership: Human Security Benefits or Status Quo

Arnaudov, Mitko (2023) North Macedonia’s NATO Membership: Human Security Benefits or Status Quo. In: Conference Proceedings: The 5th International Academic Conference on Human Security 2022: Innovation, Research, and Knowledge in the (Re)configuration of Human Security, November 4-5, 2022. Faculty of Security Studies, University of Belgrade; Institute of International Politics and Economics, Belgrade, pp. 289-304. ISBN 978-86-80144-57-3

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Abstract

The essential goal of this paper is to provide an explanation about the human security benefits of small states membership in NATO in contemporary international relations, on the example of North Macedonia. It is the latest country to become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, and it happened at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. In that period, when NATO has proclaimed itself as an organization which will help its allies in the fight against the pandemic by ensuring medical equipment, financial support, medication and other necessities, North Macedonia’s citizens were faced with enormous difficulties as a consequence of the weak national medical system, and the unpreparedness of national authorities to create a national strategy for facing the ongoing challenges, while at the same time relying their country and citizens on international organizations and institutions support (Deibel, 2007, p. 77). The example of North Macedonia’s full integration in NATO during the period when a global pandemic was endangering the world health system and was creating huge obstacles for ensuring human security sustainability at different levels, is the core example which leads us to the topic of our research. The aim of which is to examine how certain international security organizations, in this case NATO, are not able to provide adequate support to its allies, which in certain moments are exclusively dependent of foreign support. This paper’s contribution, from a theoretical point of view, would be seen in the confirmation of a realistic approach which says that national interests always prevail in international relations and that small states could not always rely on the allies’ solidarity when in certain moment they are facing the same or similar challenges as big countries, especially when those are focused on resolving internal all-pervading problems.

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