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The NATO Summit

NATO’s Vilnius Summit

At the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 11-12, allied leaders will gather to take significant steps on Ukraine, defense and deterrence, China, and beyond Our experts break down everything you need to know, from NATO’s future relationship with Ukraine to the plan for the Alliance’s strategic future.

Michta on Al Jazeera discussing the war in Ukraine

Issue Brief May 23, 2023

Providing long-term security for Ukraine: NATO membership and other security options

This issue brief evaluates membership and other security options for the alliance and its members to consider with regards to Ukraine, from formal actions by NATO as a whole to collective or individualized efforts by member nations.

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Michta on Al Jazeera discussing the war in Ukraine

Issue Brief Apr 11, 2023

Defining success for NATO’s Vilnius summit: A primer

By Charles Barry and Christopher Skaluba

A successful NATO summit in July requires significant progress on a host of NATO’s political and military priorities, especially those enumerated at Madrid.

Europe & Eurasia National Security
Michta on Al Jazeera discussing the war in Ukraine

Issue Brief Apr 18, 2023

NATO deterrence and defense: Military priorities for the Vilnius Summit

By Franklin D. Kramer

Ahead of the NATO Summit in Vilnius, this issue brief sets forth six priority actions that NATO should undertake to enhance its deterrent and defense posture.
Defense Technologies Europe & Eurasia

Featured events

Public Event Fri, May 5, 2023 • 8:30 am ET

Ideas to implementation: Priorities for NATO’s Vilnius Summit

After more than a year of Russia’s brutal, illegal, and unprovoked war in Ukraine, the transatlantic community remains at a critical juncture. The upcoming Vilnius summit is an opportunity for the Alliance to turn ideas into action.
Defense Policy Eastern Europe Europe & Eurasia NATO
Online Event Wed, April 19, 2023 • 10:30 am ET

NATO’s Vilnius summit: Ukraine’s future and the completion of Europe

NATO leaders are gathering in Vilnius in July to discuss the future of the alliance. What should NATO leaders do to vouch for Ukraine’s long-term security and stability? What steps should NATO take to ensure its own defenses against Moscow’s revisionist objectives?

Defense Policy Eastern Europe International Organizations NATO

NATO Expansion

Michta on Al Jazeera discussing the war in Ukraine

Strategy Memo Apr 13, 2023

Memo to NATO leaders

NATO’s upcoming Vilnius summit has to produce more than a rhetorical expression of support for Ukraine. Allied leaders must leverage the opportunity to drive forward a NATO defense and deterrence posture that underscores NATO’s resolve to support Ukraine and begins the process of fully integrating Ukraine within the transatlantic community, including as a NATO member.
Conflict Europe & Eurasia
Michta on Al Jazeera discussing the war in Ukraine

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
Michta on Al Jazeera discussing the war in Ukraine

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

New Atlanticist

Apr 13, 2023

NATO should offer Ukraine a membership plan now

By Franklin D. Kramer

Considering today’s geopolitics and NATO’s values, offering a membership action plan is the most effective and appropriate response to the challenge Russia presents.

Conflict NATO

New Atlanticist

Mar 18, 2023

Experts react: Turkey moves to approve Finland’s NATO membership. Where does that leave Sweden?

By Atlantic Council experts

After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would approve of Finland’s membership in NATO, our experts break down what’s next.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

New Atlanticist

Jan 30, 2023

Sweden has a chance to transform European security—even before it officially joins NATO

By Franklin D. Kramer

Sweden can wield the agenda-setting powers of its presidency to push a EU security and defense budget directed toward three crucial aims: mobility, sustainment, and critical infrastructure protection.

Defense Industry Defense Policy

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?

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.

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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.

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Open a bank

by Max Bergmann and Siena Cicarelli

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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‘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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Threaten decisive nuclear retaliation

by David Gompert and Hans Binnendijk

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Content

In the News

Nov 30, 2023

Michta on Al Jazeera discussing the war in Ukraine

By Atlantic Council

On November 29, an interview with Dr. Andrew Michta, director and senior fellow of the Scowcroft Strategy Initiative, was released by Al Jazeera Balkans. Michta discusses the war in Ukraine and European security architecture, noting that Russia will be able to rebuild its military in only a few years.

Conflict NATO
People look out of the window of a house on a flooded street following a storm in the village of Pribrezhe, Crimea November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Alexey Pavlishak

New Atlanticist

Nov 30, 2023

Russian War Report: Pro-Kremlin surrogates accuse the US of using ‘climate weapons’ in Crimea

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

Following a severe storm in the Black Sea heavily impacted Crimea, pro-Kremlin sources circulated a conspiracy suggesting the US used a weather weapon.

Artificial Intelligence Climate Change & Climate Action

In the News

Nov 28, 2023

Wieslander interviewed on Radio Sweden

P1 Morgon On November 28, NATO foreign ministers met in Brussels. Sveriges Radio speaks to Anna Wieslander, Director for Northern Europe at the Atlantic Council, discussing how close or far away Sweden is from NATO membership. In response to the question of whether Sweden is in too much of a hurry to become a NATO […]

NATO Northern Europe

UkraineAlert

Nov 28, 2023

Putin debunks his own propaganda by disarming Russia’s NATO borders

By Peter Dickinson

Putin publicly blames NATO for provoking the invasion of Ukraine, but Russia's recent demilitarization of the country's borders with neighboring NATO members makes a mockery of such claims, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

In the News

Nov 28, 2023

Wieslander on BerlinsideOut’s podcast

Northern Outlooks: New Germany-scepticism in the Nordics? On November 28, Anna Wieslander participated in BerlinsideOut’s podcast episode “Northern Outlook: New Germany-scepticism in the Nordics?”. Along with Minna Ålander, Tuomas Iso-Markku, and Kim Olsen she discussed Germany’s relationship with the Nordic countries of Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. With Finland having joined NATO to counter the […]

NATO Northern Europe

In the News

Nov 22, 2023

Michta in Politico discussing how a “federalized” EU would impact US interests

By Atlantic Council

On November 21, Dr. Andrew Michta, director and senior fellow of the Scowcroft Strategy Initiative, was published in Politico on proposed European Union treaty revisions that “would transform the EU from a confederation of sovereign countries into a unitary federal entity.” Dr. Michta argues that, while this shift has been ignored by US policymakers, it […]

NATO Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Nov 14, 2023

Michta on bne IntelliNews discussing NATO membership for Ukraine

By Atlantic Council

On November 14, an interview with Dr. Andrew Michta, director and senior fellow of the Scowcroft Strategy Initiative, was published by bne IntelliNews on his support for NATO membership for Ukraine and the future of US force structure in Europe.

Conflict NATO

New Atlanticist

Nov 6, 2023

How to keep NATO relevant into 2024 and beyond

By Giedrimas Jeglinskas, Zelma Sergejeva

As the 2024 Washington Summit gets closer, allies should stand up for freedom, ensure continuous support to Ukraine, and credibly boost their defense spending and capabilities.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

New Atlanticist

Nov 2, 2023

NATO needs a plan for military and nonmilitary instruments of power to work together

By Ann Marie Dailey

The Alliance's planning must include nonmilitary parts of government as well as the private sector to reflect the realities of modern warfare.

Defense Industry Defense Technologies

New Atlanticist

Oct 27, 2023

NATO’s greatest advantage over adversaries is its network of allies and industry partners. Here’s how to use it.

By Joslyn Brodfuehrer

Government officials and defense industry leaders meeting this month mapped out the opportunities available to accelerate defense and technology cooperation between NATO allies.

Defense Industry Europe & Eurasia
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Experts

Fellow

Anca Agachi

Nonresident Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Africa Conflict

Staff

Nika Aleksejeva

Resident Fellow, Baltics

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Belarus Disinformation

Millennium Leadership Fellow

Kirk Allen

Digital Communications Lead, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

Millennium Leadership Program

Middle East NATO Partnerships

Fellow

Lukas Andriukaitis

Nonresident Fellow

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Disinformation Eastern Europe

Staff

Ryan Arick

Assistant Director

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

NATO Security & Defense

Fellow

Lisa Aronsson

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia NATO
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