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

Russia's Yars missile system, April 9, 2014

NATOSource

Jan 12, 2016

Russia to Deploy New Divisions on Western Flank, Form Nuclear Regiments

By Reuters

Russia will create three new military divisions on its Western flank in 2016 and bring five new strategic nuclear missile regiments into service, Sergei Shoigu, the country’s defense minister, was quoted as saying by news agencies on Tuesday.

NATO Russia
Secretary of State John Kerry, Dec. 2, 2015

NATOSource

Jan 11, 2016

10 Most Popular NATO Stories of 2015

By Jorge Benitez, Director of NATOSource

Last year, Russia intervened militarily in the Middle East and increased military provocations in the Baltic Sea Region.

France NATO
British Typhoon intercepts Russian Su-34 jets over Baltic airspace, July 24, 2015

NATOSource

Jan 8, 2016

NATO Jets Scrambled 160 Times to Protect Lithuanian Airspace in 2015

By Lithuania Tribune

Lithuania’s Defence Ministry said that NATO jets patrolling airspace over the Baltic Countries scrambled 160 times to intercept Russian planes in 2015, up 14% on the previous year.

NATO Northern Europe

In the News

Jan 8, 2016

Herbst on NATO’s Russia Rhetoric

By John Herbst

Christian Science Monitor quotes Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Director John E. Herbst on remarks by NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, US Air Force General Philip Breedlove, that the United States needs to get tough with Russia:

NATO Russia

News

Jan 6, 2016

Sloan: Defense of the West

On January 6, Stan Sloan addressed a standing-room-only audience at the Isley LIbrary in Middlebury Vermont on “Defense of the West” as part of the Vermont Humanities Council “First Wednesdays” program. His talk focused on issues addressed in his forthcoming book, Defense of the West: NATO, the European Union and the Transatlantic Bargain.

NATO Security & Defense
Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, Nov. 16, 2015

NATOSource

Jan 4, 2016

Warsaw May Reach EU Compromise with UK, If It Leads to NATO Force in Poland

By Wiktor Szary and Justyna Pawlak, Reuters

Poland could be open to compromise over British demands to limit the rights of European Union migrants if London helps it bolster the NATO presence in central Europe, Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told Reuters.

NATO Poland

In the News

Dec 24, 2015

Gramer: The New Thorn in Russia’s Side

By Robbie Gramer

Transatlantic Security Initiative Associate Director Robbie Gramer writes for Foreign Affairs on Montenegro’s recent joining of NATO and how that may affect NATO’s larger relation to Russia:

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

Dec 21, 2015

An Alliance Deterred

By Patrick Stephenson

NATO leaders intended the Alliance’s Trident Juncture military exercises, in part, to send a message to Russia that they would not hesitate to defend allied territory. That intention was commendable. But one wonders how exercises in the western Mediterranean will deter Russian ambitions that lie 3,000 km away in Ukraine and on the borders of […]

NATO Russia
President Vladimir Putin in Russia's fortified National Control Defense Center, Nov. 17, 2015

NATOSource

Dec 19, 2015

The Geostrategic Value of Greece and Sweden in the Current Struggle between Russia and NATO

By Albin Aronsson

Greece and Sweden are both in possession of islands that are of critical geostrategic value and this value serves as a major driver behind Russia’s increased attention to the two countries.

Greece NATO
Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz , Nov. 21, 2015

NATOSource

Dec 18, 2015

Poland Raids NATO Center in Warsaw

By Financial Times, Bloomberg News, and Defense News

From Henry Foy, Financial Times: Poland has replaced the head of a NATO-affiliated facility in Warsaw during a midnight raid by defence ministry officials and military police on its office, in the latest move by the country’s new government to take control of state agencies.

Central Europe Intelligence

Experts

Events