Ankara Summit Content Series

These articles are part of a series featuring Atlantic Council experts’ analysis and recommendations on the key challenges facing allies at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, and beyond.

TRACKING NATO SPENDING


Trackers and Data Visualizations

Jun 20, 2025

NATO defense spending tracker

By
Kristen Taylor, Julia Salabert

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

FEATURED EVENTS

TUNE IN

ARCHIVES: THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL ON THE ROAD TO THE NATO SUMMIT

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.

Within the Atlantic Council’s longstanding commitment to strengthening the transatlantic relationship, the Atlantic Council Turkey Program conducts research, provides thought leadership, and offers a platform for strategic dialogue between the US, Turkey, and NATO allies to address the region’s toughest challenges and explore opportunities, including in the fields of energy, business & trade, technology, defense, and security.

Content

Dinner for Heads of State at NATO Warsaw Summit, July 6, 2016

NATOSource

Oct 12, 2016

Can They Get Any Closer? The Case for Deepening the Partnerships Between Sweden and Finland with NATO

By Anna Wieslander

The dinner between Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, President Sauli Niinistö, and the Heads of States of NATO in Warsaw in July 2016, was a landmark in the partnership between Sweden, Finland and the Alliance.

NATO NATO Partnerships
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sept. 8, 2016

NATOSource

Oct 12, 2016

Turkey Purges NATO Military Envoys after Failed Coup

By Robin Emmott , Reuters

Turkey has fired hundreds of senior military staff serving at NATO in Europe and the United States following July’s coup attempt, documents show,

Germany NATO
Transport loader for Iskander-M missile system, May 9, 2015

NATOSource

Oct 11, 2016

Russia’s Deployment of Nuclear Capable Missiles Near NATO Border Alarms Allies

By BBC, AP, and Reuters

From Jonathan Marcus, BBC:  Russia’s deployment of nuclear-capable missiles to its Kaliningrad exclave is setting off warning bells in the Baltics and at Nato.

Germany NATO

New Atlanticist

Oct 11, 2016

Defending Europe Against Russia

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former secretary general of NATO, has some advice for European governments: invest more in defense in light of the threat posed by Russia. “I think more and more people understand that Russia has changed from being a strategic power to being a strategic challenge,” said Rasmussen. Rasmussen, who is also a […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Oct 7, 2016

Rebuilding Trust in the European Union

By Rachel Ansley

Faced with challenges posed by Brexit, an unprecedented influx of migrants, and feeble economies, the European Union must work hard to rebuild confidence among European publics, Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák said at the Atlantic Council on October 6. “Our main focus now is bringing the European Union closer to Europeans,” said Lajčák. Slovakia holds […]

Central Europe European Union
Two Russian TU-160 Blackjack bombers, Sept. 22, 2016

NATOSource

Oct 6, 2016

Jets From Four NATO Members Scramble As Russian Bombers Fly from Norway To Spain

By BBC

Two Russian Blackjack bombers were intercepted by fighter jets from four European countries as they flew from the direction of Norway to northern Spain and back, it has emerged.

France NATO

In the News

Oct 6, 2016

Braw in The Riga Conference: Build Them a House (and a Tank Ramp): How the Baltic Sea States are Accommodating NATO Troops

By Elisabeth Braw

Read the full article here.

NATO Security & Defense

MENASource

Oct 6, 2016

Saving Libya to Defend NATO’s Southern Flank

By Karim Mezran

Roughly 20 years ago, Carlo Maria Santoro, a professor of international relations at Milan and one of Italy’s foremost experts on geopolitics, wrote a book titled, The Risk from the South. He warned of Libya’s centrality to the stability of North Africa and the countries of Southern Europe. He was, at the time, referring to […]

Libya NATO
Secretary of State John Kerry in Brussels, Oct. 4, 2016

NATOSource

Oct 4, 2016

Kerry: US Will Always Honor its Defense Guarantee to NATO Allies

By John Kerry, Department of State

Let me underscore: The United States of America will support its friends and its allies on both sides of the channel as you work through the tough issues ahead, but we will not be shy about where our interests lie.

NATO Russia

Issue Brief

Oct 4, 2016

A NATO strategy for security in the Black Sea region

By Steven Horrell

NATO faces a worsening security environment defined by Russia’s growing willingness to challenge the West and a Europe whole, free, and at peace. In this new geo-political context the Black Sea region is one of the central friction zones between Russia and NATO. While the Alliance has recently pledged to protect its eastern flank against […]

Maritime Security NATO

Experts