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

UkraineAlert

Apr 7, 2016

How Ukraine Can Contribute to NATO’s Forward Defense

By Ian J. Brzezinski and Markian Bilynskyj

NATO has decided to bolster its military operations in Central Europe to better deter and, if necessary, defend against Russian aggression. Toward that end, Alliance military authorities have been tasked to develop plans for the deployment of multinational units, possibly battalions or brigades, that will be deployed on a persistent basis along NATO’s eastern frontier. […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Apr 6, 2016

NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg Stands Up for the Alliance

By Ashish Kumar Sen

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg refused to wade into US domestic politics, but he delivered a forceful defense of the Alliance on April 6 in remarks that may be interpreted as a firm rebuttal to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s criticism of the grouping as “obsolete.” Noting that the mutual interests of the United States […]

European Union International Organizations

Event Recap

Apr 6, 2016

NATO: Projecting Stability in an Age of Instability

By Transatlantic Security Initiative

On April 6, 2016 the Atlantic Council hosted a special event with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss NATO’s strategy for south and preview the agenda for the upcoming NATO Warsaw Summit in July. Secretary General Stoltenberg discussed the broad range of urgent and complex challenges facing the Alliance, outlining several bold and innovative […]

NATO Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

Apr 6, 2016

On the balance of forces in the east

By James Hasik

NATO doesn’t need more guns, money, or aircraft. It needs them where they’d count. Two data sets stood out in my news flow this morning. Byron Callan, a member of the Atlantic Council and the senior defense investment analyst at Capital Alpha Partners, observed in note that global fixed-wing fighter and attack aircraft inventories have dropping […]

Eastern Europe NATO

Issue Brief

Apr 6, 2016

A maritime framework for the Baltic Sea region

By Franklin D. Kramer and Magnus Nordenman

An effective maritime framework would be a critical element in an integrated NATO deterrent and reassurance strategy for the Baltic Sea region, in light of hostile Russian actions and the emerging Anti-Access/Area-Denial (A2/AD) challenge in northern Europe. Such a framework would provide the Alliance the capability for sea and air control over the Baltic Sea region and, as necessary, support the requirements of reinforcement and combined capabilities including intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance, electronic warfare, and precision engagement.

Maritime Security NATO

In the News

Apr 6, 2016

Gramer Quoted by Foreign Policy on NATO and the US Presidential Election

By Robbie Gramer

Read the full article here.

Elections NATO
General Michail Kostarakos and General Johann Luif, March 4, 2016

Bremain vs Brexit

Apr 5, 2016

Brexit Would Make it Easier for CSDP to Expand and be ‘Harmful’ to NATO

By Sandy Johnston, European Geostrategy

CSDP has played its part in trans-Atlantic and regional security. It has not delivered on the heady rhetoric of its formative years – e.g. the 60,000 troops available at 60 days notice and sustainable for up to a year in the field.

European Union International Organizations
Admiral James Stavridis (ret.), Feb. 19, 2016

NATOSource

Apr 5, 2016

Former Supreme Allied Commander: Why NATO Is a Necessity

By James Stavridis, Time

NATO is decidedly not a Cold War relic. When I was Supreme Allied Commander, I had over 170,000 NATO troops from all 28 nations fighting on three continents in post-Cold War missions.

Afghanistan NATO
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and President Barack Obama, April 4, 2016

NATOSource

Apr 4, 2016

Obama says NATO Alliance Remains Key to Collective Security

By Kathleen Hennessey, AP

President Barack Obama on Monday called NATO “the linchpin” of U.S. security policy and a critical ally in the fight against terrorism, indirectly countering Republican Donald Trump’s recent claims that the 67-year-old alliance is obsolete

NATO Security & Defense

In the News

Apr 4, 2016

Aronsson Quoted by Business Insider on Trump’s Foreign Policy Stance on NATO

By Lisa Aronsson

Read the full article here.

Elections NATO

Experts

Events