Hide

NATO Expansion

New Atlanticist

Sep 30, 2022

Zelenskyy is pushing for fast-track NATO membership. Does Ukraine have a fighting chance to join the club?

By Atlantic Council experts

Experts from our Transatlantic Security Initiative break down NATO’s response to the Ukrainian president’s surprise move.

Conflict NATO

New Atlanticist

Aug 8, 2022

When will Sweden and Finland join NATO? Tracking the ratification process across the Alliance.

By Atlantic Council experts

With this tracker, the Atlantic Council team is keeping tabs on the countries that have ratified the amended NATO treaty—and handicapping the political prospects for ratification in the rest.

Europe & Eurasia NATO
What Turkey really wants from Sweden

Issue Brief Aug 22, 2022

Sweden and Finland are on their way to NATO membership. Here’s what needs to happen next.

By John R. Deni

In response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden took the historic step of applying to join NATO. Both nations will bring modern capabilities that will help defend against malign actors. As Finland and Sweden’s membership is forthcoming, Alliance leaders, NATO watchers, and transatlantic security experts need to consider how to fully integrate the new allies, include them in operational plans, and best enhance defense of a longer border with Russia.
Europe & Eurasia National Security
What Turkey really wants from Sweden

New Atlanticist May 20, 2022

For Finland, the Cold War never ended. That’s why it’s ready for NATO.

By Paul R.S. Gebhard

For decades, Finland has persevered on its own—and now NATO has the opportunity to benefit from that.
Defense Policy NATO
What Turkey really wants from Sweden

New Atlanticist May 18, 2022

Sweden would strengthen NATO with fresh thinking and an able force

By John R. Deni

Sweden’s unique characteristics could make it a serious security provider—not merely a security consumer—in the heart of Northern Europe. 
Crisis Management Defense Policy

The NATO Summit

At the last NATO Summit, which Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg deemed “historic and transformative,” leaders gathered to address “the most serious security crisis we have faced.” Our experts break down everything you need to know, from the expansion of the Alliance to the plan for its strategic future.

What Turkey really wants from Sweden

New Atlanticist Jul 22, 2022

Now for the hard part: A guide to implementing NATO’s new Strategic Concept

NATO should be proud of its recent accomplishments—but now it needs to follow through.

Read More
What Turkey really wants from Sweden

Scorecard Jul 7, 2022

Scowcroft Strategy Scorecard: NATO’s Strategic Concept clear on threats, but will require sustained commitment from Alliance

By Atlantic Council

Several of the Scowcroft Center’s strategy experts analyzed the Alliance’s new Strategic Concept, assessing the strategy based on five criteria. The reviewers generally agreed that the document was clear-sighted about threats facing the Alliance. However, implementing the ambitious strategy will require sustained commitment and high investment from Alliance members. Here are the full assessments.
Europe & Eurasia International Organizations
What Turkey really wants from Sweden

New Atlanticist Jul 1, 2022

Summit speed read: How the G7 and NATO pushed back on Putin

By Daniel Fried

The free world’s leading institutions did a lot this week—but the war still hangs in the balance. Here’s what was agreed to and what is yet to be accomplished.
Conflict Economic Sanctions

Dive back in: The NATO Public Forum

Flagship Event Tue, June 28, 2022 • 9:00 am ET

The NATO Public Forum

On the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Madrid, the Alliance’s leaders as well as international security experts will gather for the NATO Public Forum.
Climate Change & Climate Action Crisis Management Defense Policy Defense Technologies

Visualizing NATO’s priorities

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, US and NATO Eastern Flank force postures have been enhanced.

The United States and NATO allies have taken numerous steps to bolster allied force posture in Eastern Europe, enhancing deterrence against further Russian aggression and demonstrating the Alliance’s ability to defend its eastern flank.

Visualizing the NATO Strategic Concept: Five ways to look at the Alliance’s future

We asked our experts: With so much happening in the global arena, what critical but underappreciated topics will be featured in the Strategic Concept—and how should NATO think about addressing them?

Featured events

Online Event Wed, June 15, 2022 • 10:00 am ET

Allied resolve: NATO perspectives on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

AN #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT – Four former Secretaries General of NATO offer their perspectives on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and NATO’s priorities ahead of the NATO Summit in Madrid.
Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia NATO NATO Partnerships
Online Event Tue, March 29, 2022 • 8:30 am ET

A conversation with the Baltic presidents

AN #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT – The Baltic presidents discussed the implications of the Russian-initiated war in Ukraine on European security and NATO’s adaptation.
Eastern Europe Europe & Eurasia NATO Northern Europe
Online Event Tue, March 29, 2022 • 12:30 pm ET

A conversation with Minister of Defence of Germany Christine Lambrecht

AN #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT – Germany’s Minister of Defence Christine Lambrecht discussed Germany’s new defense priorities in the face of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Conflict Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia Germany
Online Event Wed, March 23, 2022 • 10:30 am ET

Previewing the NATO Summit with Ambassador Julianne Smith

AN #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT – US Permanent Representative to NATO, Ambassador Julianne Smith, previewed the NATO Summit and discussed how the United States and its allies are strengthening defense and deterrence in Europe.

Europe & Eurasia NATO Russia Security & Defense
Online Event Fri, January 28, 2022 • 9:30 am ET

Enhancing NATO’s collective defense: A conversation with former Supreme Allied Commanders Europe

NATO can take several steps to improve its collective defense posture in the face of Russian aggression.

Eastern Europe Europe & Eurasia NATO Russia
Online Event Fri, January 28, 2022 • 8:30 am ET

A conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

AN #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT – Secretary General Stoltenberg discussed NATO’s response to the renewed tensions in Europe.
Economic Sanctions Europe & Eurasia NATO Politics & Diplomacy

Visualizing burden-sharing data

NATO allies contribute to a variety of missions. Here’s a look at how each country chips in.

The NATO alliance conducts a variety of missions on land, sea, and air. Here is a breakdown of how each country has been contributing to a selection of these missions.

Despite COVID-19 pandemic, NATO defense spending continues to rise

Even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, NATO allies have continued to increase their defense investments.

Learn more

Subscribe for the latest on NATO

Sign up for updates from the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative, covering the debate on the greatest security challenges facing the North Atlantic Alliance and its key partners.



  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NATO 20/2020

Modernize the kit and the message

by H.E. Dame Karen Pierce DCMG

NATO will only remain successful over the next seventy years if it modernizes its capabilities, takes command of emerging technology, and harmonizes its strategic messaging.

Read the essay

Open a bank

by Max Bergmann and Siena Cicarelli

NATO can fund critical defense investments by bringing the necessary financial tools in house.

Read the essay

Design a Digital Marshall Plan

by the Hon. Ruben Gallego and the Hon. Vicky Hartzler

NATO allies, led by the United States, must cooperate in securing national 5G communications systems in Europe and beyond against malign Chinese influence.

Read the essay

Rethink and replace two percent

by Derek Chollet, Steven Keil, and Christopher Skaluba

NATO’s two percent metric is reductive and politically fraught but offers lessons for better ways to measure burden sharing.

Read the essay

Build an Atlantic-Pacific Partnership

by James Hildebrand, Harry W.S. Lee, Fumika Mizuno, Miyeon Oh, and Monica Michiko Sato

NATO is the only institution capable of organizing transatlantic and transpacific stakeholders to address China’s political, military, and information threats.

Read the essay

Disband the NATO Response Force

by John R. Deni

Replacing the NRF with a plug-and-play interoperability model increases the chance that NATO will employ its high-readiness forces.

Read the essay

Build resilience for an era of shocks

by Jim Townsend and Anca Agachi

NATO needs a fourth core task to protect allied populations from nontraditional threats like COVID and climate change.

Read the essay

‘Game out’ decision making

by AM Sir Christopher Harper, KBE, RAF (Ret.)

In an era where the distinction between peace and conflict is increasingly complex, NATO should retain its competitive advantage by using synthetic environments and virtual worlds to support rapid, efficient, and effective strategic decision making.

Read the essay

Digitalize the enterprise

by Jeffrey Reynolds and Jeffrey Lightfoot

If NATO is to unlock new frontiers of innovation and harness emerging technology, digitalizing how it does business is the key.

Read the essay

Listen to women

by Lisa A. Aronsson

Twenty years after its creation, NATO should affirm the strategic significance of the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda and define what it means for an era of great power competition.

Read the essay

Ramp up on Russia

by Amb. Alexander Vershbow

NATO needs to increase the costs for Russian aggression while building back crucial dialogue if there is any prospect for improved relations with Moscow.

Read the essay

Put NATO back in the narrative

by Bridget Corna and Livia Godaert

NATO can recapture the imagination of allied publics by telling its own story better and in new ways to new audiences.

Read the essay

Seek membership for Mexico

by Christopher Skaluba and Gabriela R. A. Doyle

Mexico’s membership in NATO may be the key to keeping a rapidly changing America invested in European security.

Read the essay

Supersize cyber

by Safa Shahwan Edwards, William Loomis, and Simon Handler

NATO should adopt a digital .2 percent policy whereby member states commit to spend .2 percent of their gross domestic product on cybersecurity and digital defense modernization.

Read the essay

Christen a carrier strike group

by Michael John Williams

Using the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales as its backbone, a NATO carrier strike group is an opportunity for high-end interoperability under European leadership.

Read the essay

End the Russian veto on Georgian accession

by Luke Coffey and Alexis Mrachek

Admitting Georgia to NATO without extending an Article 5 guarantee to Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region can fulfil the promise of the Bucharest Summit.

Read the essay

Threaten decisive nuclear retaliation

by David Gompert and Hans Binnendijk

NATO should thwart Russian use of nuclear weapons by threatening certain retaliation.

Read the essay

Revitalize NATO’s grand strategy

by Amb. Timo Koster and Ivanka Barzashka

Collective strategic analysis is the pathway to a more inclusive, transparent, and systematic process for creating NATO’s next strategic concept.

Read the essay

Set NATO’s sights on the High North

by Jim Danoy and Marisol Maddox

Security in the Arctic is waiting on no one. NATO needs a strategy for defense and deterrence in the High North before it is outflanked.

Read the essay

Reimagine the Washington Treaty

by Damon Wilson and Will O’Brien

Reexamining NATO’s founding charter can be an exercise in creating an Alliance fit for a new geopolitical era.

Read the essay

Related program

The Transatlantic Security Initiative, in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, shapes and influences the debate on the greatest security challenges facing the North Atlantic Alliance and its key partners.

Explore more

Content

New Atlanticist

Jan 27, 2023

What Turkey really wants from Sweden

By Rich Outzen

Turkey likely will still approve Sweden's bid for NATO membership, but not until summer and only after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gets more cooperation against the PKK.

Europe & Eurasia NATO
Satellite image captures military transport aircraft at Russia’s Tsentralny military air base. (Source: Planet.com/DFRLab)

New Atlanticist

Jan 27, 2023

Russian War Report: Pro-Kremlin sources amplify forged diplomatic letters targeting Ukrainian refugees

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

As Russian shelling of Ukranian forces and civilian infrastructure continues, Ukraine receives the first of many tanks promised by NATO allies.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Jan 24, 2023

Leopard tank saga: Germany remains haunted by history

By Bohdan Vitvitsky

Germany's reluctance to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine reflects the ongoing influence of war guilt for the crimes of the Nazi era while also highlighting a failure to differentiate between modern Russia and the Soviet Union.

Conflict Defense Industry

Inflection Points

Jan 21, 2023

Davos Dispatch: Why now is the time for a ‘Ukraine surge’: military, intelligence, economic and other support to defeat Putin

By Frederick Kempe

Despite the successes of the NATO summit, Russia's missile strike on a Ukrainian shopping mall put the brutality of Putin's war into stark relief.

Conflict Eastern Europe

Atlantic Debrief

Jan 18, 2023

#AtlanticDebrief – What is the state of Germany’s Zeitenwende? | A Debrief from Siemtje Möller

Rachel Rizzo sits down with German Parliamentary State Secretary for Defense, Siemtje Möller, to reflect on her New Atlanticist article on Germany's Zeitenwende and discuss the latest developments on Germany's support for Ukraine.

Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia

New Atlanticist

Jan 18, 2023

Dutch prime minister talks Leopard 2 tanks and other assistance to Ukraine: ‘The ask from Kyiv is completely clear’

By Nick Fouriezos

Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke at an Atlantic Council Front Page event on Tuesday, where he discussed Ukraine, the Caribbean, China, and more.

Conflict Europe & Eurasia

In the News

Jan 18, 2023

Scheunemann in Global National: momentum is building in support of sending tanks for Ukraine

By Leah Scheunemann

Leah Scheunemann was quoted in Global National around 5:58 discussing how momentum is building in support of sending tanks for Ukraine to use in defense of its homeland.

Conflict Defense Policy
Igor Turashev, wanted by the FBI for his connection to computer malware that infected “tens of thousands of computers,” reportedly participated in a December 2022 Russian hackathon hosted by the Wagner Group. (Source: FBI.gov)

New Atlanticist

Jan 13, 2023

Russian War Report: Russian hacker wanted by the FBI reportedly wins Wagner hackathon prize 

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

In December 2022, Wagner Group organized a hackathon that was won by a man wanted by the FBI for his connection to computer malware.

Conflict Cybersecurity

UkraineAlert

Jan 12, 2023

The West reaps multiple benefits from backing Ukraine against Russia

By Taras Kuzio

Ukraine is often viewed as being heavily reliant on Western support but the relationship is mutually beneficial and provides the West with enhanced security along with valuable intelligence, writes Taras Kuzio.

Conflict Cybersecurity

Issue Brief

Jan 6, 2023

How allied Sweden and Finland can secure Northern Europe 

By Anna Wieslander, Eric Adamson, Jesper Lehto

NATO is approaching its ninth round of enlargement. The accession of Sweden and Finland—two solid democracies and defenders of the international-rules based order—into the Alliance will strengthen the core of the transatlantic community.

Defense Policy NATO
Load More

Experts

Staff

Alvina Ahmed

Program Assistant

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

NATO Security & Defense

Staff

Nika Aleksejeva

Resident Fellow, Baltics

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Belarus Disinformation

Millennium Leadership Fellow

Kirk Allen

Regional Marketing Lead, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

Millennium Leadership Program

Middle East NATO Partnerships

Fellow

Lisa Aronsson

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia NATO

Staff

Ryan Arick

Assistant Director

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

NATO Security & Defense

Fellow

Kyle Atwell

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Afghanistan Colombia
Load More

Events

Online Event Wed, February 1, 2023 • 11:30 am ET

A conversation with Boris Johnson: Sustaining support to Ukraine

Boris Johnson joins the Atlantic Council to discuss the importance of Western unity and support for Ukraine and what more can be done against the threat Russia poses.
Conflict Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia NATO