NATO

NATO

From July 7 to 8, 2026, heads of state and government  gathered at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, where allies sought to capitalize on the success of 2025’s landmark defense spending pledge and begin converting cash into capabilities. Check out our commentary, analysis, and events covering the convening and our latest analysis on NATO, courtesy of our experts.

Ankara Summit Content Series

These articles are part of a series featuring Atlantic Council experts’ analysis and recommendations on the key challenges facing allies at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, and beyond.

How European NATO allies are stepping up, by the numbers

This year’s NATO Summit takes place at a critical time for the Alliance. With no marquee deliverable like last year, NATO leadership will point to progress from European allies on defense spending, defense industrial production, and aid to Ukraine.

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European allies can boost NATO unity at the Ankara summit by accelerating eastern flank deterrence

Ahead of the upcoming summit, European allies should commit to accelerating their deployment of full-strength combat brigades to the Baltic states by 2027.

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NATO allies need a plan for addressing threats below the threshold of war

NATO should take on a more active role in coordinating the response to attacks below the threshold of war. Specifically, the Alliance should use the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara to establish response options for its member states.

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The Ankara summit is an opportunity for NATO to ramp up engagement with its southern neighborhood

NATO’s engagement with its southern neighborhood has been inconsistent, despite growing security challenges. The Ankara summit offers and opportunity to strengthen dialogue with regional partners and reinforce NATO’s southern strategy.

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Innovation ranges: How NATO can test and deploy cutting-edge capabilities faster

The Ankara summit offers allies an opportunity to absorb the lessons from innovation ranges and revitalize the defense innovation pipeline.

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Civilian infrastructure is now a strategic target. NATO must adapt to protect it.

To help build resilience, NATO allies should integrate Nordic, Baltic, and Ukrainian “total defense” practices into NATO planning and exercises.

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Europe should take the long bet on the US and the transatlantic security relationship

At the upcoming Ankara summit, European allies should underscore their increased defense spending and their tangible contributions to shared security.

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How NATO can strengthen the transatlantic defense industrial base in Ankara and beyond

The NATO Summit in Ankara is an opportunity to advance a stronger, more integrated transatlantic defense industrial base.

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Europe’s no-panic playbook for a radically different US foreign policy

NATO and the EU need to make significant, lasting changes in response to Trump 2.0 national security policy–quickly, and ideally in coordination with Washington.

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NATO’s new Arctic presence shows that European allies are stepping up

Heading into the Ankara summit, the Arctic region offers a prime example of where European allies are stepping up and laying the groundwork for deeper cooperation.

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More European NATO allies should step up help to Ukraine through PURL

NATO’s Ankara summit is an opportunity for allies to expand participation in the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), which funds US-made military equipment for Ukraine.

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NATO can emerge from the Ankara summit stronger. Here’s how.

Allies can strengthen the Alliance by continuing to increase defense spending, accelerating joint capability development, and sustaining their support for Ukraine.

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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

ACT Roundtable with Major General Peter Bayer

Dispatches
Jul 9, 2026

Eleven takeaways from the NATO Summit in Ankara 

By
Atlantic Council experts

Atlantic Council experts break down the most important developments coming out of the Ankara summit.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

ACT Roundtable with Major General Peter Bayer

Fast Thinking
Jul 8, 2026

Was the NATO Summit a success?

By
Atlantic Council

Atlantic Council experts break down an eventful two days in Ankara.

NATO
Security & Defense

ACT Roundtable with Major General Peter Bayer

Dispatches
Jul 2, 2026

Civilian infrastructure is now a strategic target. NATO must adapt to protect it.

Allies must preserve the ability to move, reinforce, sustain, communicate, mobilize, and, if necessary, fight under conditions of disruption.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO

ACT Roundtable with Major General Peter Bayer

Dispatches
Jul 2, 2026

Europe should take the long bet on the US and the transatlantic security relationship

By
Ian Brzezinski, Philippe Dickinson

In Ankara, European leaders must seize the opportunity to reinforce the long-term foundations of the Alliance.

Defense Policy
Europe & Eurasia

ACT Roundtable with Major General Peter Bayer

Dispatches
Jun 23, 2026

How European NATO allies are stepping up, by the numbers

By
Kristen Taylor, Matt Trunkey

Expect NATO leadership to focus on three main issues: defense spending, defense industrial production, and aid to Ukraine.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

ACT Roundtable with Major General Peter Bayer

Dispatches
Jun 17, 2026

NATO’s southern flank is exposed. Portugal can help fortify it.

By
Randi Charno Levine

The Alliance was not designed to focus only on its easter flank. Vulnerabilities to NATO’s south are accumulating faster than strategy is adapting.

Maritime Security
NATO

FEATURED EVENTS

Private Event
Thu, June 25, 2026 • 1:45 pm ET

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the Ankara Summit Agenda

AN AC FRONT PAGE EVENT—NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte lays out his priorities for the upcoming Ankara summit.

Central Europe
Eastern Europe
Europe & Eurasia
European Union


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 hosts Senators Shaheen and Tillis for a conversation on the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO
Security & Defense


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


TUNE IN

ARCHIVES: THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL ON THE ROAD TO THE NATO SUMMIT

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

Event Recap

Sep 6, 2012

ACT Roundtable with Major General Peter Bayer

By Jason Harmala

On September 6th, the International Security Program convened the defense attachés from NATO member countries and other key partners along with selected experts for an off-the-record roundtable discussion with Major General Peter Bayer, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and policy at Allied Command Transformation.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 5, 2012

America’s Euro Fatigue

By Stanley Sloan

At a time when the United States and all its allies are looking at years of reduced resources for all kinds of discretionary government spending, including defense, American interest and faith in the transatlantic alliance seems to be fading fast. Is this a sign of permanent decline in the sense of “Atlantic community,” or is it […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 4, 2012

The Rise of Afghan Fratricide

By Joshua Foust

The number of ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) soldiers killed by their Afghan counterparts has risen precipitously this year. So-called “green on blue” attacks have killed 42 soldiers, more than the 35 killed last year and twice as many as were killed in 2010. Officials are scrambling to figure out why.

Afghanistan International Security Assistance Force

NATOSource

Aug 6, 2012

NATO announces new Supreme Allied Commander Transformation

By NATO

NATO Security & Defense

NATOSource

Jul 29, 2012

France Taps Paloméros for NATO Command Post in US

By Pierre Tran, Defense News

From Pierre Tran, Defense News:  France has nominated Gen. Jean-Paul Paloméros, French air chief of staff, as the next head of NATO’s Allied Command Transformation at Norfolk Va., sources familiar with the situation said. 

NATO Security & Defense

NATOSource

Jul 25, 2012

‘Organic jointness?’ NATO’s Connected Forces Initiative

By Julian Lindley–French, the New Atlanticist

From Julian Lindley–French, the New Atlanticist:  NATO must contend with two competing and contending inner-realities

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jul 23, 2012

NATO: Connected Forces, Connected Minds?

By Julian Lindley-French

NATO must contend with two competing and contending inner-realities: a schism in Alliance strategic culture and concept, driven by deepening divisions over the world view and the future of the Euro; and the austerity-driven need for shrinking armed forces to work ever more closely together in a world in which the balance of power is […]

Europe & Eurasia NATO
NATO Headquarters, Brussels Flags

Event Recap

Jul 18, 2012

NATO Global Partnerships Task Force

On July 18, the Atlantic Council’s International Security Program hosted the first workshop of the task force on NATO Global Partnerships. The task force will assess ways that the Alliance can strengthen relations with appropriate partners who want to be associated with the Alliance, offer meaningful contributions, and help to address its global security agenda.

NATO NATO Partnerships

New Atlanticist

Jul 17, 2012

Anchoring the Alliance: Transforming Europe from a Partner in Crisis to a Global Partner

By R. Nicholas Burns Damon Wilson and Jeffrey Lightfoot

If the transatlantic alliance is going to build a brighter future in the decade ahead, Europe will have to regain the ambition to shape international affairs that it demonstrated in decades past.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jul 12, 2012

The American Pivot Hinges on Europe

By Sven Biscop

Inadvertently or not, the United States is now demanding European strategic autonomy, at least regionally, for its “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific is partially dependent on Europe’s ability to take care of its own business. Henceforth peace and stability in Europe’s neighborhood is first and foremost Europe’s responsibility.

European Union International Organizations
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Experts

Fellow

Leah Scheunemann

Nonresident Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

NATO Security & Defense

Fellow

Wayne Schroeder

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Arms Control Defense Policy

Fellow

Alex Șerban

Director, Romania Office

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

English Europe & Eurasia

Millennium fellow

Alp Sevimlisoy

CEO, Alp Sevimlisoy Yatırım (Alp Sevimlisoy Investment)

Millennium Leadership Program

NATO Defense Policy

Fellow

Joanna Siekiera

Nonresident Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Rule of Law Polish

Fellow

Mark Simakovsky

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center Europe Center

Russia National Security
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