| Summary: | Volume 13, Issue 1. Winter Nineteen eighty-nine is the fortieth anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and scholars worldwide are examining its evolution and success. Member states entering the alliance had differing national interests, but all held a common goal of collectively defending the West. Iceland is unique among NATO's founding members. It has never had an army. While it supported, in principle, a defense of Europe, historically, it has avoided alliances. Neutrality, coupled with maintaining a delicate domestic political balance, has presented challenges for the Icelandic government. Ms. Bjorgulfsdottir examines how Iceland, despite these factors, has become NATO's vital trans-Atlantic link, thus acquiring the paradoxical title of "neutral ally."
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