TRACKING NATO SPENDING

Trackers and Data Visualizations

Jun 20, 2025

NATO Defense Spending Tracker

By Kristen Taylor

The Transatlantic Security Initiative’s NATO defense spending tracker delves into data and figures to analyze current defense spending trends.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

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Programs and initiatives

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

In the News

Jul 9, 2020

Ian Brzezinski quoted in Dallas Morning News on US troop withdrawal from Germany

Europe & Eurasia NATO

UkraineAlert

Jul 8, 2020

Containing the Kremlin: Why the West must rethink policy towards a revisionist Russia

By Oleksii Reznikov

After more than five years of deadlock in Russia-Ukraine peace talks, it is obvious that fresh approaches are needed in order to end the war on Europe’s eastern frontier and contain the Kremlin.

Conflict NATO Partnerships

New Atlanticist

Jul 2, 2020

What Poland wants when it comes to US troops

By Teri Schultz

It's not a place the Polish government wants to be: caught between its crucial transatlantic ally the United States and its neighbor, Europe's most powerful country, Germany.

Defense Policy Germany

New Atlanticist

Jun 26, 2020

Germany may not like the American messenger. But it should heed his message.

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

The US president and the German government have given up on one another and withdrawn to their own camps, ignoring the growing structural issues in their bilateral ties that promise to linger no matter who wins the US presidential elections this fall.

Defense Policy Germany

New Atlanticist

Jun 25, 2020

What’s at stake in Trump’s plans to withdraw troops from Germany

By Katherine Golden

On June 15, US President Donald J. Trump confirmed press reports that he is planning to pull 9,500 US troops out of Germany, leaving 25,000 in the country. Here’s how the Atlantic Council’s experts are assessing the decision and its significance.

Defense Policy Germany

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Jun 24, 2020

German defense minister responds to US plans for a troop drawdown

By Larry Luxner

German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has warned that the US President Donald J. Trump administration's planned withdrawal of 9,500 American troops from her country—a move announced by the US president earlier this month—must not send Russia the signal “that the US is less interested in Europe.”

Germany NATO

UkraineAlert

Jun 16, 2020

NATO upgrades Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

NATO recognized Ukraine as an Enhanced Opportunities Partner on June 12 in a status upgrade that reflected deepening cooperation and boosted Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration ambitions.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

Inflection Points

Jun 14, 2020

The perils of transatlantic decoupling and how to stop it

By Frederick Kempe

It’s time to take urgent measures to head off the danger of “transatlantic decoupling,” a strategic shift that would put at risk more than seven decades of gains in democracy, open markets and individual rights. Two world wars have taught us where transatlantic neglect can lead, while the history of the past 75 years underscores the value of common cause. We forget those lessons at our peril.

Europe & Eurasia Nationalism

Timely Commentary & Analysis

Jun 9, 2020

Binnendijk in Defense News: The folly of a NATO troop withdrawal decision

By Hans Binnendijk

A draw down of US forces in Germany could have consequences for defense and deterrence in Northeastern Europe, NATO's Readiness Initiative, and the transatlantic relationship, writes Hans Binnendijk.

Europe & Eurasia Germany

In the News

Jun 9, 2020

Ian Brzezinski cited in the Economist on NATO’s future relationship with China

Ian Brzezinski was quoted in the Economist on policy options NATO could take to address China's rise and malign activities.

China Europe & Eurasia

Experts