NATO

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Atlanticist
Jun 25, 2025

Experts react: NATO allies agreed to a 5 percent defense spending target in a low-drama summit. Now what?

By
Atlantic Council experts

The Alliance summit was notable for what was said and done, especially about defense spending—but also for what was left off the agenda.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO

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

Inflection Points
Jun 24, 2025

Dispatch from The Hague: How Trump can build on his Middle East success with NATO

By
Frederick Kempe

As the Alliance summit begins, the US president can already justifiably trumpet three major achievements in the Middle East. Will he add one more in Europe?

Conflict
Europe & Eurasia

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

New Atlanticist
Jun 23, 2025

Expect NATO’s new spending pledge to be overshadowed by weakening US commitment and inaction on Ukraine

By
Ian Brzezinski, Ryan Arick

The Hague summit will ultimately be defined by what the US president communicates about his commitment to transatlantic security and what NATO allies do to support Ukraine.

Defense Policy
NATO

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

New Atlanticist
Jun 20, 2025

What counts as ‘defense’ in NATO’s potential 5 percent spending goal?

By
John R. Deni, Ryan Arick

The Alliance must ensure that “defense related” items truly contribute to collective defense as it plans its new, larger spending goal.

Defense Policy
Europe & Eurasia

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

Issue Brief
Jun 5, 2025

Immediate steps that Europe can take to enhance its role in NATO defense

By
Franklin D. Kramer, Kristen Taylor

As NATO members gather in the Hague amid uncertainty about US commitment to the continent and concerns about Russia’s military rebuilding, what can European nations do to deter and, if necessary, defeat threats from Moscow?

Europe & Eurasia
NATO

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

New Atlanticist
Jun 5, 2025

What explains the transatlantic rift? It’s all about threat perception.

By
Jason Davidson

NATO allies’ differing threat perceptions provide the backdrop for what could be a contentious summit in The Hague this month.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

FEATURED EVENTS

Online Event
Thu, July 3, 2025 • 4:00 am ET

Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Europe’s security after the NATO Summit

AN #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT—Finnish President Alexander Stubb shares his conclusions from the NATO Summit in The Hague and how Europe must adapt its approach to security.

Conflict
Defense Policy
Europe & Eurasia
European Union


Online Event
Fri, June 20, 2025 • 4:00 pm ET

Sweden’s foreign minister on the 2025 NATO Summit agenda

Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard joins the Atlantic Council to discuss the NATO Summit and the future of transatlantic relations.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO
Northern Europe
Politics & Diplomacy


Online Event
Tue, June 10, 2025 • 12:00 pm ET

Senator Jeanne Shaheen on Russia’s war and The Hague summit

Shaheen joins Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio for a conversation on the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague and US policy on Russia and Ukraine.

Conflict
International Organizations
NATO


Public Event
Wed, May 14, 2025 • 9:30 am ET

Navigating a new era of NATO

A discussion on navigating a new era of NATO in today’s shifting geopolitical environment.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO
Security & Defense
United States and Canada


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

Content

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 […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

May 11, 2012

With Iran, Syria Looming, Can Obama Save NATO from Disaster at Chicago Summit?

By Barry Pavel and James Joyner

Coming off the heels of a very successful NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, in November 2010, it looked like President Obama would make the coming NATO summit in Chicago May 20 and 21 – an election-year meeting of America’s strongest allies on American soil – a centerpiece of his campaign, highlighting great successes in his […]

Iran NATO

New Atlanticist

May 11, 2012

NATO and the Transatlantic Bargain

By Franklin Kramer

The United States’ recent defense strategy emphasizes a “strategic turning point” and a “broader range of challenges and opportunities.” The NATO Summit, which will be held in Chicago May 20 and 21, will offer the transatlantic countries a first opportunity to respond and two key elements will be “pivoting”—expanding the focus on the larger world […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 10, 2012

Saving NATO

By Franklin Kramer and Jordan Becker

As the United States engages in a “strategic pivot” toward the Asia-Pacific region—and as defense budgets tighten on both sides of the Atlantic—the debate on burden sharing within NATO has once again been rekindled. Last summer, outgoing secretary of defense Robert Gates, a staunch Atlanticist, chided European allies publicly over the issue, warning of “dire” […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 9, 2012

Cyber Security and the Need for New Approaches

By Franklin Kramer

Cyber as a critical facilitator of the global world is well recognized and the concomitant importance of a safe and secure cyber system is equally understood. But the continued and highly successful attacks on cyber systems in recent years have undercut any sense of real security.  Just to state a few: the US Department of Defense […]

Cybersecurity NATO

New Atlanticist

Apr 27, 2012

Why We Need a Smart NATO

By Julian Lindley-French

There is some contention as to who actually said it – Winston Churchill, Admiral Lord Fisher, or Ernest Rutherford but in any case some Brit once said, “Gentlemen, we have run out of money. Now is the time to think.”

NATO Security & Defense
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Experts

Fellow

Anca Agachi

Nonresident Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Africa Conflict

Staff

Nika Aleksejeva

Resident Fellow, Baltics

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Belarus Disinformation

Millennium fellow

Kirk Allen

Digital Communications Lead, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

Millennium Leadership Program

Middle East NATO Partnerships

Fellow

Lukas Andriukaitis

Nonresident Fellow

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Disinformation Eastern Europe

Fellow

Ryan Arick

Nonresident Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

NATO Security & Defense

Fellow

Lisa Aronsson

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia NATO
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Events

Public Event Tue, April 28, 2026 • 10:15 am ET

Belgium’s defense minister on the future of transatlantic security relations
Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia NATO Politics & Diplomacy