NATO

NATO

From July 7 to 8, heads of state and government will gather at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, where allies will seek to capitalize on the success of last year’s landmark defense spending pledge and begin converting cash into capabilities. 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

General Gurganus: There’s Still More to Do in Afghanistan

Dispatches
Apr 20, 2026

Five ideas to make the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara a success

By
Atlantic Council experts

While the upcoming summit is unlikely to produce anything as singularly significant as 2025’s “5 percent” pledge, there are important steps the Alliance should take.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO

General Gurganus: There’s Still More to Do in Afghanistan

Dispatches
Apr 10, 2026

Dispatch from Vilnius: Warfare is evolving rapidly. Here’s how NATO can keep up.

By
David Julazadeh, Julia Salabert

The most important change is that the cost barrier to generating strategic effects has dropped dramatically.

Defense Industry
Europe & Eurasia

General Gurganus: There’s Still More to Do in Afghanistan

Dispatches
Jan 21, 2026

To adapt to today’s security threats, NATO should prioritize the basics of defense innovation

By
Julia Salabert, Kristen Taylor

Transatlantic allies must focus on accelerating defense innovation while strengthening their defense industrial bases.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

General Gurganus: There’s Still More to Do in Afghanistan

New Atlanticist
Jun 27, 2025

Four fundamental questions the NATO Summit did not answer

By
Torrey Taussig

Over the coming months, NATO allies will have to wrestle with questions about the US commitment to Europe, their shared approach to China, and more.

Conflict
Defense Industry

General Gurganus: There’s Still More to Do in Afghanistan

Inflection Points
Jun 26, 2025

Dispatch from The Hague: It’s been Trump’s week in Europe and Iran

By
Frederick Kempe

What connects the recent events in Iran and at the NATO Summit is that they won’t be remembered for the threats countered but rather for the opportunities seized.

Europe & Eurasia
Iran

General Gurganus: There’s Still More to Do in Afghanistan

Fast Thinking
Jun 25, 2025

Trump warmed to NATO at The Hague. But what about Ukraine?

By
Atlantic Council

Allies reiterated their commitment to collective defense. But absent from the communiqué was any mention of how Russia’s war against Ukraine should end.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO

FEATURED EVENTS

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


Public Event
Fri, April 17, 2026 • 11:45 am ET

The British ambassador to the US on Euro-Atlantic security and the Middle East

British Ambassador to the United States Sir Christian Turner joins the Atlantic Council to discuss the UK’s ongoing diplomatic efforts in the Middle East and its vision for the future of Euro-Atlantic security cooperation.

Europe & Eurasia
Iran
Middle East
NATO


Online Event
Tue, April 7, 2026 • 10:00 am ET

US-Turkish defense relations and the upcoming NATO Summit

A discussion on the new era for the bilateral US-Turkish defense relationship and the significance of the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy
Europe & Eurasia
Geopolitics & Energy Security


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.

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

Major General Charles Gurganus

Event Recap

Apr 17, 2013

General Gurganus: There’s Still More to Do in Afghanistan

With ISAF’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014 fast approaching, it is useful to look back and see what failures and successes there have been. Have certain challenges been overcome? How do the Afghans see ISAF’s mission? On April 17, the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security hosted Major General Charles Gurganus, commanding general, […]

Afghanistan International Security Assistance Force

NATOSource

Apr 9, 2013

NATO’s Nordic Model

By Magnus Nordenman, New Atlanticist

From Magnus Nordenman, New Atlanticist:  Amidst massive defense cuts and perennial squabbling over burden sharing across NATO, the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark have quietly assumed a real leadership role in the transatlantic security relationship.

NATO Northern Europe

New Atlanticist

Apr 8, 2013

How the Nordic Countries Are Quietly Leading the Alliance into the Future

By Magnus Nordenman

Amidst massive defense cuts and perennial squabbling over burden sharing across NATO, the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark have quietly assumed a real leadership role in the transatlantic security relationship. They are making valuable contributions to the Alliance in personnel, strategic vision, operations, and policy. More importantly, they provide a model for […]

NATO Northern Europe

NATOSource

Apr 5, 2013

NATO must become as much knowledge nexus as military nexus

By Julian Lindley-French, New Atlanticist

From Julian Lindley-French, New Atlanticist:  H]ow can NATO address its most pressing emerging security challenge: how to close the strategy-austerity-capability gap?

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Apr 5, 2013

Connecting NATO Forces…and Minds

By Julian Lindley-French

“A thorough examination of the way our military is organized and operates will…highlight our inherent strengths.  Our strategic planning must emphasize these strengths, which include leader development, training, mobility and logistics, special operations forces, cyber, space, research and development.”

NATO Security & Defense

NATOSource

Mar 28, 2013

NATO deactivates Allied Maritime Command Naples

By NATO

From NATO:  [A]fter over forty years of service to the Alliance, Allied Maritime Command Naples (MC Naples) cased its colors following the transfer of its responsibility  to NATO’s new Maritime Command located in Northwood, United Kingdom.

NATO Security & Defense

Event Recap

Mar 21, 2013

Allied Command Transformation Strategic Military Partners Workshop

By Jason Harmala

On Thursday, March 21, 2013, the Atlantic Council and NATO’s Allied Command Transformation (ACT) organized a workshop on NATO’s military partnerships.

NATO Security & Defense

Event Recap

Mar 20, 2013

Experts Discuss Feasibility of Expanding NATO’s Global Partnerships

On March 20, 2013, the Atlantic Council held an event to launch the newest report by Atlantic Council Distinguished Fellow Franklin D. Kramer entitled “NATO Global Partnerships: Strategic Opportunities and Imperatives in a Globalized World.”

NATO NATO Partnerships

NATOSource

Mar 15, 2013

Spain and NATO look to the future

By NATO

From NATO:  General Knud Bartels, Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, paid an official visit to Spain, where he discussed with the Spanish Chief of Defence, Admiral Fernando García Sánchez, NATO defence priorities post-2014, particularly Smart Defence, and the Connected Forces Initiative.

NATO Security & Defense

NATOSource

Mar 14, 2013

After 61 years, NATO headquarters in Heidelberg deactivates

By Matt Millham, Stars and Stripes

From Matt Millham, Stars and Stripes:  As part of NATO’s transformation to a more flexible and affordable force, the alliance on Thursday deactivated its Headquarters Allied Force Command Heidelberg, ending a 61-year history that tracks largely alongside that of the U.S. Army’s in this old German city.

NATO Security & Defense
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Experts

Fellow

Erwan Lagadec

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

English Europe & Eurasia

Fellow

Vytautas Leškevičius

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Arms Control Crisis Management

Fellow

Jeffrey Lightfoot

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

English Europe & Eurasia

Staff

Theresa Luetkefend

Associate Director

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Defense Policy German

Staff

Ginger Matchett

Assistant Director

GeoStrategy Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Africa Americas

Staff

Connor McPartland

Associate Director

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

NATO Security & Defense
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Events

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 is hosting Senators Shaheen and Tillis for a conversation on the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara.
Europe & Eurasia NATO Security & Defense