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2011
Cover, North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
Strategic Insights, v. 10, Issue 3 (Winter 2011)
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Strategic Insights, v.10, issue 3 (Winter 2011). Topic: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
http://hdl.handle.net/10945/24274
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STRATEGIC
INSIGHTS
Volume 10, Issue 3 • Winter 2011
Strategic Insights is a quarterly online journal published by the Center on Contemporary
Conflict, Department of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey,
California.
We publish scholarly articles as well as viewpoints that address issues of current interest to
the makers and executors of US national security policy. We are particularly interested in
articles addressing homeland security, WMD/WME proliferation, regional conflict, and the
contemporary role of US security forces. The journal seeks articles that will make our readers
think, generate discussion, and gain new insight into the challenges and opportunities
confronting US policymakers and military operators. Views that run counter to the
conventional wisdom or official US government policy are welcomed.
You can contact the editors at [email protected].
Managing Editor
Brent Kesler
Editor
Sandra Leavitt, Ph.D.
Assistant Editor
Ginger Blanken
About the Cover
The cover on this edition of Strategic Insights features the NATO sigil overlaid with Leonardo
da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. The original Vitruvian Man was designed by the Roman architect
Vitruvius in an attempt to define artistic proportions for the human body. Da Vinci made
adjustments to Vitruvius’s proportions, making them more accurate. Specifically, da Vinci
realized that the circle and square that outline the limits of the man’s limbs do not have the
same center: the center of the circle is the man’s navel, while the center of the square is
somewhat lower.
Here, the Vitruvian man stretches his arms to find the extent of his reach, just as NATO
today is debating the extent of its mission. His arms reach in many directions, representing
the many directions NATO has taken in its various operations around the world. The rays of
the NATO star radiate from the center of the man, as the shared goals of the Alliance
radiate from a shared history. Even so, the man does not occupy the center of the world;
rather, he is a small part of a bigger world, to which he extends his hand.