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

Oct 14, 2020

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.

China Defense Policy

NATO 20/2020

Oct 14, 2020

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.

Europe & Eurasia Maritime Security

NATO 20/2020

Oct 14, 2020

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.

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

NATO 20/2020

Oct 14, 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.

Defense Policy Defense Technologies

NATO 20/2020

Oct 14, 2020

Ramp up on Russia

By 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.

Arms Control Defense Policy

NATO 20/2020

Oct 14, 2020

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.

Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia

NATO 20/2020

Oct 14, 2020

Open a bank

By Max Bergmann and Siena Cicarelli

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

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

NATO 20/2020

Oct 14, 2020

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.

Climate Change & Climate Action Crisis Management

NATO 20/2020

Oct 14, 2020

Threaten decisive nuclear retaliation

By David Gompert and Hans Binnendijk

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

Arms Control Europe & Eurasia

NATO 20/2020

Oct 14, 2020

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.

Crisis Management Defense Policy

Experts

Events