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

FEATURED READING

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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

Issue Brief

Dec 13, 2018

Permanent deterrence: Enhancements to the US military presence in north central Europe

By General Philip Breedlove, Ambassador Alexander Vershbow

The United States and NATO have taken significant steps since 2014 to enhance their force posture and respond to provocative Russian behavior. But more needs to be done.

Central Europe Europe & Eurasia

Event Recap

Dec 11, 2018

Conference on the European defense and security dimension in Northern Europe

By Elin Schiffer

On December 11, 2018, the Atlantic Council Northern Europe Office and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, in collaboration with the Latvian Embassy in Sweden, organized a high-level, public international conference on ’The European Defence and Security Dimension in Northern Europe’. The conference brought together policy experts, academic researchers, representatives of government and organizations and media from a significant […]

Defense Policy NATO

New Atlanticist

Dec 10, 2018

#StrongerWithAllies: Polish major enlists his personal drone in his unit’s mission

By Hal Foster

Podhorodecki posts his drone footage to YouTube and to the Facebook page that his three-person public affairs team set up to promote the 12th Mechanized.

NATO Security & Defense

In the News

Dec 7, 2018

Binnendijk in Defense News: NATO Needs a European Level of Ambition

By Hans Binnendijk

Read the full article here

NATO Security & Defense

Event Recap

Dec 6, 2018

Seminar on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of NATO

By Elin Schiffer

On December 6 the Atlantic Council Northern Europe Office, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Stockholm, organized a seminar titled ”NATO at 70: How to Navigate in A Turbulent World”. The seminar was attended by experts representing both Swedish governmental institutions, the Stockholm diplomatic corps, and think-tanks.  The closed half-day […]

NATO Northern Europe

Inflection Points

Dec 1, 2018

It’s time to stop appeasing Putin—here’s how to deter the emboldened Russian president

By Frederick Kempe

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko this week warned, "The only language [Putin] understands is the solidarity of the Western world. We can't accept Russia's aggressive policies.

Conflict NATO

New Atlanticist

Nov 30, 2018

Kosovo’s president pushes for peace deal with Serbia

By David A. Wemer

Both Kosovo and Serbia now have their sights set on EU and NATO membership, but must first come to a formal peace agreement and normalize relations.

Eastern Europe NATO

Report

Nov 29, 2018

NATO priorities after the Brussels summit

By Franklin D. Kramer, Hans Binnendijk, Lauren M. Speranza

In Brussels, allies committed not only to increased spending to meet the NATO 2-percent pledge, but to important improvements in readiness and reinforcement for air, land, and naval forces. They also agreed to adopt an increased focus on the challenges of cyber and hybrid conflict. The commitments are comprehensive, but the results of these decisions will depend on effective implementation. This paper sets forth a policy and programmatic framework for that implementation, proposing four sets of actions that NATO should undertake.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

New Atlanticist

Nov 29, 2018

Trump cancels meeting with Putin

By Ashish Kumar Sen

“I have strong doubts that the Ukraine crisis was the real reason given the timing of the president's announcement, which came only hours after news broke about his business dealings with the Kremlin during the 2016 presidential campaign," said Michael Carpenter, Atlantic Council nonresident senior fellow at the Eurasia Center.

NATO Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

Nov 29, 2018

How to Put Putin in His Place

By Michael Carpenter

Russia’s act of aggression against Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea on Sunday should not be dismissed as an isolated incident in its four-and-a-half year old war against Ukraine. This pre-meditated attack is part of a broader effort by Moscow to take full control of the Kerch Strait—a strategic chokepoint that connects Russia to Crimea […]

NATO Russia

Experts