Burden-Sharing

This chapter analyzes variation in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members&s; military assistance to Ukraine (2022–2024), challenging traditional burden-sharing theories that prioritize material capacity and strategic exposure. Employing a between-effects model across 28 allies, the analysis finds that ideational and domestic factors—especially public support—outweigh interest-based drivers. Strategic alignment with the United States and threat perception of Russia also significantly predict contributions, while conventional indicators such as defense spending, arms export capacity, and geographic proximity have no effect. The overall picture marks a departure from Cold War-era burden-sharing practices, indicating that political will, shaped by democratic legitimacy and geopolitical identity, is more decisive than levels of national wealth and defense spending.