Institutional Strategy in a Changing World : A Single Case Study of NATO’s Security and Defence Strategy in Relation to the Ukraine Crisis

This thesis revolves around NATO’s role in the Ukraine crisis with the startpoint in 2014. Specifically, through conducting a qualitative content analysis of various NATO related material, a study regarding NATO’s security strategy and defense strategy, and the strategies' implications and roles in the Ukraine crisis, was able to be conducted. The purpose was to obtain an understanding of how NATO’s strategy has been interpreted and implemented in relation to the crisis. The study is anchored in historical institutionalist and rational-choice institutionalist theories and their central concepts. Using these theories’ central concepts, the analysis of the material provided results stating that these theories, to a satisfying degree, explain the character and development of NATO’s strategies' roles in the crisis. The theoretical concepts have been relevant for NATO’s interpretation and implementation of the alliance's strategies in relation to the Ukraine crisis. The study and its results are highly relevant for the contemporary understanding of NATO’s role in the Ukraine crisis. This study is also highly relevant and appropriate for the political research field and existing as well as future research regarding the different aspects of NATO’s role in the Ukraine crisis.