Look to NATO for an example of transnational military legitimacy

Colette raises a key point about state sovereignty as the source of legitimacy when it comes to the use of force. I think it's important to remember that the legitimacy of any collective, transnational military force flows directly from the sovereignty of the individual states contributing to that force. NATO is an instructive example of this kind of legitimacy in action. While ad-hoc contributions from NATO member states have been critical to its operations, NATO's military structure also includes both a standing chain of command and standing forces comprised of troops from NATO member states. For example, the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force flies E-3A AWACS aircraft out of a dedicated NATO air base at Geilenkirchen, Germany, with full-time integrated international crews. In many ways, the idea on the table is for a NATO-like U.N. force with an anti-genocide mandate instead of NATO's collective security mandate.