Between deterrence and disarmament: NATO’s struggle for ontological security amid disruptions in the global nuclear regime

Abstract

This article examines the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) efforts to restore its ontological security under a weakening global nuclear regime. Combining insights from critical regime theory and the Lacanian ontological security perspective, the article conceptualizes nuclear regime as a symbolic order that NATO relies on to mask its structural “lack” stemming from its contradictory commitment to both deterrence and disarmament. Through a structural narrative analysis of the Alliance’s official texts from 1949 to 2025, the article reveals three narrative emplotments (romance, tragedy, and comedy) that NATO has invoked to reaffirm and stabilize its elusive nuclear identity. By acting as stabilizing “fantasies,” these narrative emplotments have helped NATO justify its self-image as a moral and responsible nuclear alliance. By showing how collective actors retain identity through symbolic discursive performance by activating and deactivating a series of plots, this article has contributed to both ontological security and critical regime perspectives.