NATO

From June 24 to 25, heads of state and government gathered at the NATO Summit in The Hague, where they agreed on a new commitment to spend 5 percent of gross domestic product on defense by 2035. Check out our commentary, analysis, and events covering the convening, courtesy of our experts.

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

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.

Content

NATO's 2015 exercise will involve air, land, and sea forces.

NATOSource

Oct 23, 2013

Spain, Portugal, and Italy to Host Major NATO Exercise in 2015

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

[W]e have just taken a significant step forward in our Connected Forces Initiative.

NATO Security & Defense
Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, March 26, 2012

NATOSource

Oct 23, 2013

Turkish PM Rebukes NATO over China Missile Deal Criticism

By Hurriyet Daily News and Anadolu Agency

From Hürriyet Daily News:  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rebuffed intensified international criticism over Turkey’s choice to agree a missile defense deal with China, a day after NATO declared that it wanted a say in the decision-making process.

China Missile Defense
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, April 30, 2008

NATOSource

Oct 22, 2013

Time for Germany to Step Up to Its Responsibilities

By Constanze Stelzenmüller, Financial Times

The country’s very existence as an export nation relies on globalisation. So it has an overwhelming interest in the health of the international order that enables global trade and communication networks to function.

European Union Germany
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and German Minister of Defense Thomas de Maizière, March 11, 2011

NATOSource

Oct 22, 2013

German Plan to Reform NATO Faces Broad Opposition

By Matthias Gebauer, Gregor Peter Schmitz and Christoph Schult, Spiegel

German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière wants to strengthen cooperation among NATO members and is calling for reform of the military alliance. But other countries are skeptical.

France Germany
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Turkey's Minister of Defense Ismet Yilmaz, October 22, 2013

NATOSource

Oct 22, 2013

Turkey’s Chinese Missile Buy Overshadows NATO Meeting

By Brooks Tigner, IHS Jane's Defence Weekly

Senior NATO diplomats have again stressed that Turkey’s intention to buy a Chinese air defence system must not put its interoperability links to the alliance in question

China Missile Defense
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

NATOSource

Oct 21, 2013

NATO Agrees to Help Libya’s Security Forces

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

Allies have agreed to respond positively to the request made by the Libyan Prime Minister for NATO to provide advice on defence institution building in Libya, as part of the overall efforts of the international community.

Libya NATO
NATO summit in Prague 2002

NATOSource

Oct 18, 2013

NATO’s 2014 Summit Agenda

By Karl-Heinz Kamp, NATO Defense College

Instead of focussing on capabilities, on Syria or on issues singled out by individual nations, the summit should concentrate on those topics which are of overarching importance for NATO’s future in the post-2014 era

Cybersecurity Missile Defense
NATO Missile Defense

NATOSource

Oct 18, 2013

Why Russia Keeps Moving The Football On European Missile Defense: Politics

By Joan Johnson-Freese and Ralph Savelsberg, Breaking Defense

The Russian Foreign Ministry has continually insisted on legally binding guarantees that US missile defenses are not aimed at it and that would allow Russia access to sensitive aspects of the system.

Iran Missile Defense
Steadfast Jazz is designed to "reassure" and "deter"

NATOSource

Oct 17, 2013

Does Steadfast Jazz Reveal How NATO Members Will Respond to Crisis in Central Europe?

By Andrew Rettman, EUobserver

Nato is to hold large-scale war games on Russia’s border a couple of weeks before the EU, at an event in Lithuania, plans to take away a former Soviet jewel: Ukraine.

European Union International Organizations
Security force team member for Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Farah

NATOSource

Oct 17, 2013

Has NATO’s ISAF Mission in Afghanistan Failed?

By Deutsche Welle

Some argue that accomplishments such as the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the denial of Afghanistan as a safe haven for his terrorist network by toppling the Taliban regime are enough to regard the mission as a success.

Afghanistan International Security Assistance Force

Experts