LOOK BACK ON THE WASHINGTON SUMMIT

Atlantic Council at the NATO Summit in Washington

Live commentary, authoritative analysis, and high-level events covering NATO’s Washington summit, courtesy of our experts.

Essays on the Alliance’s future

NATO’s seventy-fifth anniversary is a milestone in a remarkable story of reinvention, adaptation, and unity. However, as the Alliance seeks to secure its future for the next seventy-five years, it faces revanchist old rivals, escalating strategic competition, and uncertainties over the future of the rules-based international order. 

With partners and allies turning attention from celebrations to challenges, the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative invited contributors to engage with the most pressing concerns ahead of the historic Washington summit and chart a path for the Alliance’s future. This series features seven essays focused on concrete issues that NATO must address at the Washington summit and five essays that examine longer-term challenges the Alliance must confront to ensure transatlantic security. 

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.

Content

NATO 20/2020

Mar 2, 2021

Put NATO back in the narrative: NATO 20/2020 podcast

By Transatlantic Security Initative

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

Europe & Eurasia Media

NATO 20/2020

Feb 24, 2021

Reimagine the Washington Treaty: NATO 20/2020 podcast

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.

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

In the News

Feb 18, 2021

Christopher Preble on War on the Rocks: Should Europe defend itself?

By Atlantic Council

On February 18, Christopher Preble and co-hosts Melanie Marlowe (CSIS) and Zack Cooper (AEI) waded into the long-running debate on European defense in the War on the Rocks Net Assessment podcast, entitled “Should Europe Defend Itself?”. Some doubt that Europe will ever be able to stand on its own without substantial support from the United […]

English NATO

NATO 20/2020

Feb 16, 2021

Disband the NATO Response Force: NATO 20/2020 podcast

By Transatlantic Security Initiative

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

Crisis Management Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Feb 16, 2021

Why is Ukraine still not in NATO?

By Dmytro Kuleba

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said recently that he'd like to ask US President Joe Biden, "Why is Ukraine still not in NATO?" Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba agrees that this question has never been more pertinent.

Conflict NATO

Issue Brief

Feb 16, 2021

The North Atlantic community renewed: Challenges, trends, and solutions

By Richard D. Hooker, Jr.

With 900 million people and $1 trillion in defense spending, the United States and Europe represent by far the largest, oldest, and most capable economic and security community in the world.

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

NATO 20/2020

Feb 10, 2021

Supersize cyber: NATO 20/2020 podcast

By Safa Shahwan Edwards, 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.

Cybersecurity Europe & Eurasia

In the News

Feb 4, 2021

Nawaz quoted in VOA on NATO forces delaying Afghanistan withdrawal deadline

By Atlantic Council

Afghanistan Central Asia

NATO 20/2020

Feb 3, 2021

Open a bank: NATO 20/2020 podcast

By Transatlantic Security Initative

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

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

Timely Commentary & Analysis

Feb 1, 2021

Brzezinski in Foreign Policy Research Institute: How NATO manages the “bear” and the “dragon”

By Ian Brzezinski

Ian Brzezinski interviewed in the Foreign Policy Research Institute's quarterly journal on how the NATO Alliance can balance competition with China and Russia.

China Europe & Eurasia

Experts

Events