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

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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

New Atlanticist

May 17, 2012

How NATO Can Revitalize Its Role

By Frederick Kempe

White House reporters can be forgiven their collective shrug when they received the readout from President Obama’s meeting last week with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in advance of the alliance’s Chicago summit this weekend.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 17, 2012

Becoming NATO’s Next Ally

By Damon Wilson

When NATO leaders meet in Chicago this weekend, they will review the process of enlargement and the performance of candidate nations. While no invitations will be issued, the summit is an opportunity for allies to affirm that NATO will continue to enlarge and that Montenegro is on track to earn a place among their ranks. […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 17, 2012

The Chicago NATO Summit: Much Ado About?

By Harlan Ullman

NATO’s 28 members and some dozen partners will convene Sunday at a heads of government, heads of state summit in Chicago, US President Barack Obama’s hometown. Such summits have been held roughly every two years. The previous one took place in Lisbon, Portugal, in November 2010 where a new “strategic concept” was approved redefining NATO’s […]

Afghanistan NATO

New Atlanticist

May 15, 2012

Germany: Economic Powerhouse, Second-Rate Military Power?

By James Joyner

“Germany today is an economic powerhouse, but a second-rate military power,” declares a new Atlantic Council report which warns, “Europe’s future relevance as a global strategic partner of the United States is contingent on Germany taking its full place as a much stronger political and military leader within Europe and the transatlantic Alliance.”

European Union Germany

Issue Brief

May 14, 2012

Change Management and Cultural Transformation in NATO

By Edgar Buckley and Nancy DeViney

In an Atlantic Council issue brief, “Change Management and Cultural Transformation in NATO: Lessons from the Public and Private Sectors,” Edgar Buckley, former assistant secretary general of NATO, and Nancy DeViney, vice president for Organizational Change Management at IBM argue that applying lessons learned from change management and cultural transformation experiences from both the public […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 14, 2012

Avoiding NATO ‘Dim and Dismal” Future Requires Big 5 Leadership

By James Joyner

Whether NATO can avoid the “dim and dismal future” Bob Gates warned about “will largely be determined by the quality of leadership demonstrated by its largest and most influential allies: the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Turkey,” warns the Atlantic Council in a new report. Under the leadership of Nick Burns and […]

NATO Security & Defense

Report

May 14, 2012

Anchoring the Alliance

By Nicholas Burns, Damon Wilson, and Jeff Lightfoot

On the eve of the Chicago summit, a new Atlantic Council report argues for the enduring importance of NATO, and calls for renewed leadership from the Alliance’s members to ensure NATO’s vibrancy in the decade to come. Download PDF

NATO Security & Defense

Event Recap

May 14, 2012

Report Launch: Anchoring the Alliance

On May 14, the Atlantic Council launched Anchoring the Alliance, a new report authored by R. Nicholas Burns, former US undersecretary of state, permanent representative to NATO, and current Atlantic Council board director.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 14, 2012

Priorities for the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago

By Ian Brzezinski

The Chicago Summit will be important in large part because of the context in which it takes place. That context includes: A war in Afghanistan from which both the US and Europe appear to be disengaging; Economic crises on both sides of the Atlantic that have atrophied European defense capabilities; A qualified success in Libya […]

Afghanistan NATO

Issue Brief

May 13, 2012

It’s Time to Put the Nuclear Issue Behind Us

By George Robertson, Franklin C. Miller, and Kori Schake

In a new Atlantic Council issue brief, authors Lord Robertson, Franklin C. Miller, and Kori Schake urge NATO heads of states to put nuclear issues behind them when they gather in Chicago this week. They argue that it is time to halt the internecine warfare which distracts Western national security experts, and has no obvious […]

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Experts