Second, a high level of institutionalisation may create capabilities that are
worth keeping even after their original purpose is gone, especially if it costs less
to maintain them than it did to create them in the first place.34
As Philip H.
Gordon points out, the capabilities and assets that NATO created in order to deal
with the Soviet threat are of considerable value in the post-Cold War world, and
they may well be worth retaining in order to deal with other contingencies.