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

NATO Secretary General Rasmussen: First Major U.S. Speech

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

NATO Secretary General Rasmussen: First Major U.S. Speech

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

NATO Secretary General Rasmussen: First Major U.S. Speech

Dispatches
Jan 21, 2026

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

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

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

NATO Secretary General Rasmussen: First Major U.S. Speech

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

NATO Secretary General Rasmussen: First Major U.S. Speech

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

NATO Secretary General Rasmussen: First Major U.S. Speech

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
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


Public Event
Thu, December 4, 2025 • 2:00 pm ET

General Aurelio Colagrande on preparing NATO for the challenges of tomorrow

The deputy supreme allied commander transformation talks about shaping the Alliance’s future through foresight and innovation.

Defense Policy
National Security
NATO
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

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 28, 2009

NATO Secretary General Rasmussen: First Major U.S. Speech

Amid administration debate over the way forward in Afghanistan, His Excellency Anders Fogh Rasmussen delivered his first major speech in the U.S. as NATO Secretary General at the Atlantic Council.

Afghanistan International Security Assistance Force

New Atlanticist

Sep 28, 2009

Rasmussen: “Things Are Going to Have to Change” in Afghanistan

By James Joyner

In his first U.S. speech as NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen stated that, while “NATO will stay” in Afghanistan “for as long as it takes to succeed,” the political and strategic realities make it clear that “things are going to have to change” and quickly.

Afghanistan NATO

New Atlanticist

Sep 28, 2009

Lugar: Energy Cutoff Equivalent to Armed Invasion

By James Joyner

Senator Richard Lugar argues that NATO’s next strategic concept must consider “unconventional threats such as terrorism, drug trafficking, cyber warfare, and energy manipulation” as “attacks” meriting Alliance response under Article V.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 28, 2009

Lugar Wants ‘Boots on the Ground’ in Eastern Europe

By James Joyner

Senator Richard Lugar, speaking at the Atlantic Council, made a passionate plea for a stronger NATO commitment to East and Central Europe, including “boots on the ground.”

Central Europe Eastern Europe

Congressional Relations

Sep 28, 2009

Senator Richard Lugar: Congressional Perspective on the Future of NATO

Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), the ranking minority member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke for the Atlantic Council to provide a Congressional perspective on how a new Strategic Concept for NATO can best ensure the continued relevance of the Alliance.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2009

Obama Missile Move: Smart Power Reset

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

For some armchair strategists, President Obama’s decision to scrap the Bush 43 plan to deploy ballistic missile defense hardware in Poland and the Czech Republic was rank appeasement that would merely sharpen the Russian bear’s appetite for more unilateral concessions that could only weaken America’s defense posture. That was sound Cold War thinking. And for […]

Missile Defense NATO

New Atlanticist

Sep 16, 2009

NATO – Russia Strategic Partnership?

By James Joyner

New NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called for “open-minded and unprecedented dialogue” with Russia to create a “true strategic partnership” on issues ranging from Afghanistan to terrorism to nuclear proliferation. While “Russia should realize that NATO is here and that NATO is a framework for our transatlantic relationship,” he argued, “we should also […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 10, 2009

Does France Deserve NATO Command Role?

By James Joyner

Nile Gardiner, a former researcher for Margaret Thatcher who heads up a center named in her honor at Heritage Foundation, writes in the Telegraph that “The French do not deserve a command role in NATO.”  He calls the news that French general Stéphane Abrial will be head Allied Command Transformation “a further weakening of the […]

France NATO

New Atlanticist

Sep 10, 2009

NATO Can Survive Afghanistan Failure

By James Joyner

In my latest for The National Interest, I argue that, despite the constant urging otherwise by former  Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO can survive failing in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan NATO

NATOSource

Sep 3, 2009

In historic first, French general to assume NATO post in Norfolk

By dailypress.com

From dailypress.com: Next week, [French Gen. Stephane] Abrial will formally become NATO’s commander of military modernization. It will be the first time in NATO’s 60-year history that a non-American officer has filled the position, normally held by a four-star U.S. general. In a ceremony aboard the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier, Abrial will take over from […]

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