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

Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, Jan. 30, 2015

NATOSource

Feb 2, 2015

NATO Chief: European Defense Spending Continued to Decline in 2014

By Jens Stoltenberg, NATO

[A]s you can see from our Annual Report, there has been a steady decline in European defense spending since 1990. And the decline continued last year.

NATO Russia
Ukrainian government checkpoint in Donbass, August 21, 2014

NATOSource

Feb 2, 2015

Top NATO Commander Supports Providing Weapons to Defend Ukraine

By Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt, New York Times

With Russian-backed separatists pressing their attacks in Ukraine, NATO’s military commander, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, now supports providing defensive weapons and equipment to Kiev’s beleaguered forces, and an array of administration and military officials appear to be edging toward that position, American officials said Sunday.

NATO Russia

Report

Feb 2, 2015

Preserving Ukraine’s Independence, Resisting Russian Aggression: What the United States and NATO Must Do

By Atlantic Council, the Brookings Institution, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs

The Kremlin is waging a hybrid war in Ukraine’s east. Initially covert, Moscow’s intervention became increasingly open when it sent in regular army units in August. Since the Minsk ceasefire, signed in September, Kremlin-supported separatists seized 500 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory. The ceasefire was an illusion. Despite the agreement, Russia continued to send hundreds […]

Europe & Eurasia NATO
US soldiers testing a M98 Javelin Weapon System, Sept. 23, 2014

NATOSource

Jan 30, 2015

US Should Provide Lethal Assistance to Ukraine

By Steven Pifer and Strobe Talbott, Washington Post

Washington needs to do more to get Russia to change course. That means giving the Ukrainian military sufficient means to make further aggression so costly that Putin and the Russian army are deterred from escalating the fight.

NATO Russia
French tank, July 14, 2012

NATOSource

Jan 30, 2015

France Sending Tanks To Poland

By Lorne Cook, AP

France is pledging tanks and armored vehicles to bolster NATO forces in Poland, where leaders are increasingly uneasy about Russia.

France NATO

In the News

Jan 30, 2015

Kroenig: Facing Reality: Getting NATO Ready for a New Cold War

By Matthew Kroenig

Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Matthew Kroenig writes for Survival on Russian aggression and what it means for the stability of the post-Cold War order in Europe:

NATO Security & Defense
Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work, June 12, 2014

NATOSource

Jan 29, 2015

Pentagon Official Urges NATO to Focus on Innovative Weapons

By Reuters and DoD News

From Andrea Shalal, Reuters: U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work on Wednesday urged NATO allies to develop and make more innovative weapons, and said bold action was needed to stay ahead of rapid weapons development by China, Russia and other countries.

NATO Security & Defense
Patriot missile system deployed in Turkey

NATOSource

Jan 28, 2015

Spanish Patriot Missiles in Turkey Now Operational

By NATO

Spanish troops joined NATO’s Patriot anti-ballistic missile deployment in Adana, Turkey on Monday (26 January 2015), replacing a Dutch unit which had been stationed there since January 2013.

Missile Defense NATO
Donbas Battalion, August 9, 2014

NATOSource

Jan 27, 2015

Former Ambassador to NATO: US Should Provide Lethal Military Aid to Ukraine Now

By Ivo Daalder, Financial Times

Mr Putin has demonstrated no interest in ending the conflict or finding a workable political solution.

NATO Russia
US Abrams tanks at Grafenwöhr, Germany

NATOSource

Jan 27, 2015

US Examining Sites in Eastern Europe for Pre-Positioning 220 Armored Vehicles

By John Vandiver and Michael Darnell, Stars and Stripes

U.S. Army Europe will soon dispatch a survey team to eastern Europe to scout locations for tanks and other military hardware as part of a broader effort to bolster the U.S. military presence in a region rattled by Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, the Army’s top commander in Europe said Friday.

Central Europe NATO

Experts

Events