Please join the Atlantic Council for a public discussion on “US force posture in North Central Europe: Adapting for the strategic realities of today and tomorrow.” The event will take place on Thursday, December 13, 2018 from 3:30pm to 5:00pm at the Atlantic Council’s headquarters (1030 15^th St. NW, 12^th Floor, West Tower Elevators, Washington, DC 20005).

North Central Europe has become a central point of confrontation between the West and a revisionist Russia. Moscow’s invasion and continued occupation of Georgian and Ukrainian territories, its military build-up in Russia’s Western Military District and Kaliningrad, and its “hybrid” warfare against Western societies have heightened instability in the region and have made collective defense and deterrence an urgent mission for the United States and NATO.

Against this backdrop, the government of Poland proposed to host and fund a permanent US military base. This offer now being negotiated creates new opportunities to enhance US and Allied force posture in North Central Europe.  The US response needs to take into account how this proposal can be leveraged to effectively reinforce the Alliance’s immediate defense requirements and strategy as well as to address longer term threats facing the United States and the Transatlantic community.

To inform and contribute to this discussion, the Atlantic Council established a task force, co-chaired by former SACEUR General Philip M. Breedlove, USAF (Ret.) and former NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow, featuring a bipartisan group of experts. The task force has conducted a study assessing current US deployments, with a focus on North Central Europe and is producing a (forthcoming) report detailing recommendations on these issues.

During this public event, the task force co-chairs preview the report’s key principles and recommendations with brief keynote remarks. This is followed by a lively moderated conversation and audience Q&A with the co-chairs; Rachel Ellehuus, deputy director and senior fellow with the Europe Program at CSIS; President and CEO of CEPA Peter Doran, and; Transatlantic Security Initiative Distinguished Fellow Hans Binnendijk, who will discuss, debate, and share their perspectives on the way forward.