NATO

Security & Defense

From July 7 to 8, 2026, heads of state and government gathered at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, where allies sought to capitalize on the success of 2025’s landmark defense spending pledge and begin converting cash into capabilities. Check out our commentary, analysis, and events covering the convening and our latest analysis on NATO, courtesy of our experts.

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.

How European NATO allies are stepping up, by the numbers

This year’s NATO Summit takes place at a critical time for the Alliance. With no marquee deliverable like last year, NATO leadership will point to progress from European allies on defense spending, defense industrial production, and aid to Ukraine.

European allies can boost NATO unity at the Ankara summit by accelerating eastern flank deterrence

Ahead of the upcoming summit, European allies should commit to accelerating their deployment of full-strength combat brigades to the Baltic states by 2027.

NATO allies need a plan for addressing threats below the threshold of war

NATO should take on a more active role in coordinating the response to attacks below the threshold of war. Specifically, the Alliance should use the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara to establish response options for its member states.

The Ankara summit is an opportunity for NATO to ramp up engagement with its southern neighborhood

NATO’s engagement with its southern neighborhood has been inconsistent, despite growing security challenges. The Ankara summit offers and opportunity to strengthen dialogue with regional partners and reinforce NATO’s southern strategy.

Innovation ranges: How NATO can test and deploy cutting-edge capabilities faster

The Ankara summit offers allies an opportunity to absorb the lessons from innovation ranges and revitalize the defense innovation pipeline.

Civilian infrastructure is now a strategic target. NATO must adapt to protect it.

To help build resilience, NATO allies should integrate Nordic, Baltic, and Ukrainian “total defense” practices into NATO planning and exercises.

Europe should take the long bet on the US and the transatlantic security relationship

At the upcoming Ankara summit, European allies should underscore their increased defense spending and their tangible contributions to shared security.

How NATO can strengthen the transatlantic defense industrial base in Ankara and beyond

The NATO Summit in Ankara is an opportunity to advance a stronger, more integrated transatlantic defense industrial base.

Europe’s no-panic playbook for a radically different US foreign policy

NATO and the EU need to make significant, lasting changes in response to Trump 2.0 national security policy–quickly, and ideally in coordination with Washington.

NATO’s new Arctic presence shows that European allies are stepping up

Heading into the Ankara summit, the Arctic region offers a prime example of where European allies are stepping up and laying the groundwork for deeper cooperation.

More European NATO allies should step up help to Ukraine through PURL

NATO’s Ankara summit is an opportunity for allies to expand participation in the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), which funds US-made military equipment for Ukraine.

NATO can emerge from the Ankara summit stronger. Here’s how.

Allies can strengthen the Alliance by continuing to increase defense spending, accelerating joint capability development, and sustaining their support for Ukraine.

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

Why NATO Allies Should Be Worried About the Scottish Elections

Dispatches
Jul 9, 2026

Eleven takeaways from the NATO Summit in Ankara

By
Atlantic Council experts

Atlantic Council experts break down the most important developments coming out of the Ankara summit.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

Fast Thinking
Jul 8, 2026

Was the NATO Summit a success?

By
Atlantic Council

Atlantic Council experts break down an eventful two days in Ankara.

NATO
Security & Defense

Dispatches
Jul 2, 2026

Civilian infrastructure is now a strategic target. NATO must adapt to protect it.

Allies must preserve the ability to move, reinforce, sustain, communicate, mobilize, and, if necessary, fight under conditions of disruption.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO

Dispatches
Jul 2, 2026

Europe should take the long bet on the US and the transatlantic security relationship

By
Ian Brzezinski, Philippe Dickinson

In Ankara, European leaders must seize the opportunity to reinforce the long-term foundations of the Alliance.

Defense Policy
Europe & Eurasia

Dispatches
Jun 23, 2026

How European NATO allies are stepping up, by the numbers

By
Kristen Taylor, Matt Trunkey

Expect NATO leadership to focus on three main issues: defense spending, defense industrial production, and aid to Ukraine.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

Dispatches
Jun 17, 2026

NATO’s southern flank is exposed. Portugal can help fortify it.

By
Randi Charno Levine

The Alliance was not designed to focus only on its easter flank. Vulnerabilities to NATO’s south are accumulating faster than strategy is adapting.

Maritime Security
NATO

FEATURED EVENTS

Private Event
Thu, June 25, 2026 • 1:45 pm ET

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the Ankara Summit Agenda

AN AC FRONT PAGE EVENT—NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte lays out his priorities for the upcoming Ankara summit.

Central Europe
Eastern Europe
Europe & Eurasia
European Union

Public Event
Wed, June 17, 2026 • 3:30 pm ET

Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis on the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara

AN AC FRONT PAGE EVENT—The Atlantic Council hosts Senators Shaheen and Tillis for a conversation on the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO
Security & Defense

Public Event
Tue, April 28, 2026 • 10:15 am ET

Belgium’s defense minister on the future of transatlantic security relations

Minister of Defense of Belgium Theo Francken shares his views on transatlantic security developments and Belgium’s role in Europe’s growing defense industry.

Defense Policy
Europe & Eurasia
NATO
Politics & Diplomacy

TUNE IN

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

2025: The Hague, Netherlands

Recorded events

Video analysis

Select publications

2024: Washington, DC, United States

Landing page: Atlantic Council at the NATO Summit in Washington

Recorded events

Video analysis

Select publications

2023: Vilnius, Lithuania

Recorded events

Ideas to implementation: Priorities for NATO’s Vilnius Summit

Select publications

Prior to 2023

2022: Madrid, Spain

Event: Priorities for the NATO Summit and security in Europe
Publication: The triumphs and question marks from this week’s NATO summit

2021: Brussels, Belgium

Event: A conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
Publication: FAST THINKING: A new era for NATO

2018: Brussels, Belgium

Event: Raising the curtain on the 2018 NATO Brussels Summit
Event: The road to NATO’s Brussels 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.

Learn more

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.

Learn more

Content

New Atlanticist

May 6, 2016

Why NATO Allies Should Be Worried About the Scottish Elections

By John Johnston

NATO partners must take a closer look at the defense policies of Scottish political parties in the wake of the Scottish National Party’s historic election victory on May 5 and its leader’s declaration that she reserves the right to hold a second independence referendum if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union “against our will.” […]

NATO Nuclear Nonproliferation

Issue Brief

May 6, 2016

NATO’s next consortium: Maritime patrol aircraft

By Magnus Nordenman

Airborne systems to provide MDA, and maritime patrol aircraft (MPAs) in particular, stand out among the most important and urgent maritime requirements. Maritime patrol aircraft fulfill a number of roles, from high-end Anti-Submarine Warfare and Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) to maritime Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), and search and rescue at sea. NATO members must now recapture these capabilities and invest in a robust maritime patrol aircraft fleet.

Europe & Eurasia Maritime Security

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, March 7, 2009

NATOSource

May 6, 2016

Russia Warns Sweden About NATO Membership, May Deploy Missiles

By Dagen Nyheter and RT

From Dagens Nyheter: Excerpts from Michael Winiarski interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

NATO NATO Partnerships

Lithuanian Defense Minister Juozas Olekas, August 31, 2015

NATOSource

May 5, 2016

Baltic Allies Seek US Help to Build Air Defense System

By Kevin Baron, Defense One

Russia’s razor-close fighter jet flybys of a U.S. destroyer in the Baltic Sea this week shows that Moscow is weak, NATO is vital, and Europe’s eastern flank needs the new air defense systems Baltic leaders have been requesting for a year.

Missile Defense NATO

NATOSource

May 4, 2016

NATO’s New Commander: ‘Ready To Fight If Deterrence Fails’

By Charles Recknagel, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

NATO has a new supreme commander, whose job is to strengthen it as a defense force after years of reductions of U.S. troops in Europe.

NATO Security & Defense

NATOSource

May 3, 2016

Secretary of Defense Carter: Russia’s Loose Talk about Nuclear Weapons is ‘Most Disturbing’

By AP and Fox News

From AP: Defense Secretary Ash Carter used a U.S. military changing-of-the-guard ceremony Tuesday to blast Russian aggression in Europe, saying Moscow is “going backward in time” with warlike actions that compel a U.S. military buildup on NATO’s eastern flank.

NATO Nuclear Nonproliferation

NATOSource

May 3, 2016

SACEUR: In a World of Instability, NATO is a Linchpin for Peace

By Philip M. Breedlove, Washington Post

The NATO alliance is arguably the most critical linchpin supporting stability on the continent that is home to the world’s largest integrated economy — and, incidentally, on the continent that has in the past century or so spawned the world’s most destructive conflicts.

NATO Russia

Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, April 23, 2013

NATOSource

May 2, 2016

Confessions of a NATO Speechwriter

By Patrick Stephenson, Foreign Policy

Despite Russian pressure on the alliance’s eastern borders and extremist pressure from within and without, our publics often wonder why NATO still exists.

NATO Security & Defense

SACEUR Gen. Philip Breedlove, May 21, 2015

NATOSource

May 2, 2016

NATO’s Breedlove Calls for Sharper Focus on Russia Ahead of Departure

By Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal

The U.S. has too few intelligence assets focused on the threat from Russia and should concentrate its technical capabilities on Moscow’s growing military might, NATO’s departing supreme allied commander said.

Intelligence NATO

UkraineAlert

May 2, 2016

Memo to Europe: Don’t Fall for Russia’s Empty Promises

By Stephen Blank

As of this writing, the “cessation of hostilities” in Syria has all but collapsed, and thousands of Russian forces are aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s campaign to retake Aleppo. At the same time, the Minsk II agreement between Russia and Ukraine remains, as it always has been, an agreement more honored in the breach than […]

NATO Russia

Experts

Fellow

Anca Agachi

Nonresident Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Africa Conflict

Staff

Nika Aleksejeva

Resident Fellow, Baltics

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Belarus Disinformation

Millennium fellow

Kirk Allen

Digital Communications Lead, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

Global Leadership Center

Middle East NATO Partnerships

Fellow

Ryan Arick

Nonresident Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

NATO Security & Defense

Fellow

Lisa Aronsson

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia NATO

Fellow

Kyle Atwell

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Afghanistan Colombia

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Ankara Summit Content Series

How European NATO allies are stepping up, by the numbers

European allies can boost NATO unity at the Ankara summit by accelerating eastern flank deterrence

NATO allies need a plan for addressing threats below the threshold of war

The Ankara summit is an opportunity for NATO to ramp up engagement with its southern neighborhood

Innovation ranges: How NATO can test and deploy cutting-edge capabilities faster

Civilian infrastructure is now a strategic target. NATO must adapt to protect it.

Europe should take the long bet on the US and the transatlantic security relationship

How NATO can strengthen the transatlantic defense industrial base in Ankara and beyond

Europe’s no-panic playbook for a radically different US foreign policy

NATO’s new Arctic presence shows that European allies are stepping up

More European NATO allies should step up help to Ukraine through PURL

NATO can emerge from the Ankara summit stronger. Here’s how.

TRACKING NATO SPENDING

NATO defense spending tracker

FEATURED READING

Eleven takeaways from the NATO Summit in Ankara

Was the NATO Summit a success?

Civilian infrastructure is now a strategic target. NATO must adapt to protect it.

Europe should take the long bet on the US and the transatlantic security relationship

How European NATO allies are stepping up, by the numbers

NATO’s southern flank is exposed. Portugal can help fortify it.

FEATURED EVENTS

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the Ankara Summit Agenda

Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis on the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara

Belgium’s defense minister on the future of transatlantic security relations

TUNE IN

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

Programs and initiatives

Content

Why NATO Allies Should Be Worried About the Scottish Elections

NATO’s next consortium: Maritime patrol aircraft

Russia Warns Sweden About NATO Membership, May Deploy Missiles

Baltic Allies Seek US Help to Build Air Defense System

NATO’s New Commander: ‘Ready To Fight If Deterrence Fails’

Secretary of Defense Carter: Russia’s Loose Talk about Nuclear Weapons is ‘Most Disturbing’

SACEUR: In a World of Instability, NATO is a Linchpin for Peace

Confessions of a NATO Speechwriter

NATO’s Breedlove Calls for Sharper Focus on Russia Ahead of Departure

Memo to Europe: Don’t Fall for Russia’s Empty Promises

Experts

Anca Agachi

Nika Aleksejeva

Kirk Allen

Ryan Arick

Lisa Aronsson

Kyle Atwell

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