On February 3 the Atlantic Council’s International Security Program hosted an all-day workshop on “NATO in the Global Commons: Global Perspectives.”

Co-chaired by Major General Mark Barrett, USAF, Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Policy at Allied Command Transformation (ACT), and Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Ian Brzezinski, the discussion brought together representatives from ACT, the Council’s Strategic Advisors Group, and leading experts from Brazil, Russia, India, and China to discuss NATO’s role in assuring access to the global commons. 

The discussion focused on the global commons of the maritime domain, cyberspace, and space, looking both at NATO’s role in ensuring the openness and stability of these domains as well as outside perspectives on the issues. The question of how NATO, as a military-political alliance, can gain legitimacy and fit into larger international efforts to enhance global commons stability and openness was brought up as a key challenge as the complexity of each area cannot be tackled solely within a national or even regional lense. 

This strategy session builds on previous ACT-Atlantic Council events, including an August strategy session on ACT after JFCOM, a July conference on NATO in the global commons and a Commanders Series speech by General Abrial in March.

Related Experts: Ian Brzezinski