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

New Atlanticist

Sep 8, 2020

US must remain committed to NATO and the Baltic States

By Sally A. Painter

The United States has profound interests in maintaining NATO and the sovereignty and security of the Baltic region. Now is the time for the United States to rise to this leadership role by deepening our commitment to NATO and supporting the Baltic countries to foster a strong and united transatlantic community.

NATO Northern Europe

In the News

Aug 28, 2020

Kroenig and Ashford discuss convention speeches, America’s foreign engagement, and how the West should respond to Belarus

By Atlantic Council

On August 28, Foreign Policy published a biweekly column featuring Scowcroft Center Deputy Director Matthew Kroenig and the Cato Institute’s Emma Ashford discussing the latest news in international affairs. In this column, they discuss the DNC and RNC speeches, what a potential President Biden’s foreign policy might look like, and what role the US should play in response […]

Belarus Elections
EU-Turkey

In the News

Aug 27, 2020

Stefano Stefanini quoted in the New York Times on Turkey-Greece tensions and prospects for Turkish EU membership

By Stefano Stefanini

Stefano Stefanini outlines several practical steps the European Union could take to develop a forward-looking and inclusive relationship with Turkey.

Europe & Eurasia European Union

Issue Brief

Aug 24, 2020

Capitalizing on transatlantic concerns about China

By Hans Binnendijk, Sarah Kirchberger, and Christopher Skaluba

Beijing is pursuing a China-centric strategy aggressively and in a fashion that is causing significant collateral damage to nations around the globe. Thus far, the transatlantic partners have no comparable strategy to counter these challenges. A new transatlantic approach is needed.

China Europe & Eurasia

New Atlanticist

Aug 19, 2020

The ‘Digital Ocean’ as a model for innovation in the perfect storm

By Keit Pentus-Rosimannus and Michael D. Brasseur

By capitalizing on opportunities such as the ‘Digital Ocean’ NATO can help provide solutions to the megatrends that will define this century, while fulfilling its core mission of providing security to its nearly one billion citizens.

Crisis Management Drones

Elections 2020

Aug 17, 2020

Hillary Clinton: The work awaiting the next US president will be ‘overwhelming’

By Katherine Golden

Just ahead of the Democratic National Convention, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that if Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris were to win the 2020 US presidential election, their administration must be prepared to advance on several domestic and international fronts simultaneously because the work they’ll face is “rather overwhelming.”

China Elections

In the News

Aug 13, 2020

General Jones and Brzezinski in Defense One: NATO Must Move Out Smartly on 5G

By James L. Jones, Jr., Ian Brzezinski

James L. Jones and Ian Brzezinski make the case for why NATO should move quickly to take advantage of 5G network technology and its military applications.

Americas Cybersecurity

Blog Post

Aug 13, 2020

NATO’s progress on burden sharing remains strong

By Bradley Hazen

While movement towards the two percent may seem slow, it is clear that NATO allies are making significant changes to their defense spending.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

EnergySource

Aug 12, 2020

Energy security in the era of hybrid warfare

By Arnold C. Dupuy, PhD

On July 2, 2020, the Atlantic Council hosted a kickoff workshop to help scope and define a study authorized by the NATO Science and Technology Board (STB) to analyze hybrid warfare’s impact on the Alliance’s energy security. As an actor in international security, NATO has a vital role to play in the nexus between energy security and hybrid warfare. For this reason, the STB has placed emphasis on the study, designated as Systems Analysis and Studies-163 (SAS-163), “Energy Security in the Era of Hybrid Warfare.”

Geopolitics & Energy Security NATO

In the News

Aug 5, 2020

Manning in The Hill: The tragedy of Trump’s foreign policy

By Atlantic Council

China European Union

Experts

Events