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

Syrian President Bashar Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Oct. 21, 2015

NATOSource

Nov 25, 2015

How Will Downing of Russian Plane Impact Campaign Against ISIS?

By Josh Seigel, Daily Signal

President Barack Obama on Tuesday used the downing of a Russian warplane as evidence to support the view of the international community that the Kremlin get with the program in the fight against the Islamic State.

France NATO
Germany's Bundeswehr, July 21, 2011

NATOSource

Nov 24, 2015

Transforming the German Armed Forces for a European Future

By Claudia Major and Christian Mölling

Military power is back as a currency in world politics. A more European Bundeswehr is not a choice but a necessity.

Europe & Eurasia European Union

New Atlanticist

Nov 24, 2015

Turkey Shot Down a Russian Jet. Here’s Why it Matters.

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The downing of a Russian SU-24 fighter jet by Turkey after it violated Turkish airspace and ignored ten warnings exemplifies the danger of Russian military support for Syria’s embattled President Bashar al-Assad. But it will also complicate French President François Hollande’s quest to include Moscow in a unified coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq […]

Iraq NATO
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Nov. 24, 2015

NATOSource

Nov 24, 2015

Secretary General: NATO Stands With Turkey, but Diplomacy and De-Escalation also Important

By Jens Stoltenberg, NATO

The North Atlantic Council has just held a meeting, an extraordinary meeting. And we have been updated by the Turkish Ambassador on the recent events. I have also spoken to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

NATO Russia
UK Prime Minister David Cameron, May 8, 2015

NATOSource

Nov 23, 2015

The Role of NATO in the UK’s New Strategic Defense and Security Review

By UK Government

[T]his document sets out our National Security Strategy for the coming five years, and how we will implement it. It presents a clear vision for a secure and prosperous United Kingdom, with global reach and global influence….

NATO Nuclear Nonproliferation
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, Nov. 17, 2015

NATOSource

Nov 18, 2015

Le Drian Tells EU Defense Ministers: ‘France Cannot Do Everything’

By Reuters, AP, and Wall Street Journal

From Robin Emmott and Sabine Siebold, Reuters:  France invoked the European Union’s mutual assistance clause for the first time on Tuesday, asking its partners for military help and other aid in missions in the Middle East and Africa after the Paris attacks.

European Union France

In the News

Nov 18, 2015

Sloan: NATO and the Paris Attacks: Why There Will Not Be an Article V Response

By Stanley Sloan

Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Stanley R. Sloan writes for War on the Rocks on how the actual wording of NATO’s Article V provides a significant degree of latitude in how allied nations could respond, even if it is invoked:

France NATO

In the News

Nov 17, 2015

Barno and Bensahel: NATO’s Two Front War

By Barno and Bensahel

Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellows for Military Affairs and National Security Policy David Barno and Nora Bensahel cowrite for War on the Rocks on the various challenges facing NATO and what steps it can take now to support its members and prepare for what’s next:

NATO Security & Defense

In the News

Nov 17, 2015

Benitez on EU “Mutual-Defense Clause”

By Jorge Benitez

The Associated Press quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Senior Fellow and NATOSource Director Jorge Benitez on France’s decision to invoked a never-before-used EU “mutual-defense clause” as opposed to NATO’s Article 5 in requesting assistance from other countries in the fight against ISIS:

European Union France
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at EDA conference, Nov. 16, 2015

NATOSource

Nov 17, 2015

Secretary General: NATO-EU Status Quo Cannot Continue

By Jens Stoltenberg, NATO

[T]he fight against terror is yet another example of how NATO and the European Union are natural partners. We share the same neighbourhood. We share the same complex security challenges. We share 22 member states.

European Union International Organizations

Experts