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

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dec. 4, 2014

NATOSource

Feb 9, 2015

Russia’s Nuclear Strategy Raises Concerns in NATO

By Adrian Croft, Reuters

Concern is growing in NATO over Russia’s nuclear strategy and indications that Russian military planners may be lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons in any conflict, alliance diplomats say.

NATO Nuclear Nonproliferation
Lt. Gen. Frederick Ben Hodges, Nov. 13, 2014

NATOSource

Feb 9, 2015

Commander of US Army in Europe Sees Russia Mobilizing for War

By Sohrab Ahmari, Wall Street Journal

‘I believe the Russians are mobilizing right now for a war that they think is going to happen in five or six years

Europe & Eurasia NATO

Article

Feb 9, 2015

Gradual Escalation Does Not Work

By Harlan Ullman

Following the NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels and the annual Munich Security Conference once known as Wehrkinde last week, the debate over whether or not to equip Ukraine with defense armaments such as anti-air and tank missiles is reaching a critical point. On the one hand, Vladimir Putin’s annexation of the Crimea and outright […]

NATO Russia
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Munich Security Conference, Feb. 6, 2015

NATOSource

Feb 6, 2015

NATO Secretary General Sees Danger in Russian Aggression and Annexation

By Jens Stoltenberg, NATO

Last year was a turning point. For European security. And for the global order. Here in Europe, we see a dangerous pattern of Russian behaviour. Annexation. Aggressive actions. And intimidation.

Middle East NATO
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Nov. 22, 2013

NATOSource

Feb 5, 2015

Putin Could Attack Baltic States Warns Former NATO Chief

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Telegraph

Vladimir Putin has dangerous ambitions beyond Ukraine and aims to test Western resolve in the Baltic states, the former head of Nato has warned.

NATO Northern Europe
Spanish paratroopers in Afghanistan, Sept. 27, 2008

NATOSource

Feb 5, 2015

Spain to Lead New NATO Spearhead Force in 2016

By Naftali Bendavid, Wall Street Journal

Six European countries said Thursday they would rotate the leadership of NATO’s new rapid-response force, and the U.S. pledged to contribute intelligence, airlift capacity and other key support.

NATO Security & Defense
Royal Marines training in Norway, Feb. 17, 2014

NATOSource

Feb 5, 2015

Defense Minister Fallon: Britain to Lead ‘High Readiness’ NATO Force

By BBC and Reuters

From BBC:  The UK will play a lead role in a “high readiness” Nato force that will be established in Eastern Europe, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has announced.

NATO Security & Defense
Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos and Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Feb. 4, 2015

NATOSource

Feb 4, 2015

Greek Defense Minister Reassures NATO Over Russia Ties

By AFP

Greece’s new government remains committed to its NATO role despite close ties with Russia that have worried its allies, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos told AFP on Wednesday.

Greece NATO
NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow and Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia David Usupashvili, Jan. 25, 2015

NATOSource

Feb 3, 2015

NATO Hopes to Open Training Center in Georgia in 2015

By Margarita Antidze, Reuters

From Retuers:  NATO said on Friday it hoped to open a training centre in Georgia by the end of the year, signalling a strengthening of its relationship with the former Soviet republic that is likely to antagonise Russia.

NATO NATO Partnerships

In the News

Feb 3, 2015

Ullman: Arming Ukraine — Deterring or Provoking Disaster?

By Harlan Ullman

Brent Scowcroft Center Senior Adviser Harlan Ullman writes for the Huffington Post on what arming Ukraine means for both NATO and Russia:

NATO Russia

Experts

Events