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

Russia’s Big Fuss Over Little NATO Exercises

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

Russia’s Big Fuss Over Little NATO Exercises

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

Russia’s Big Fuss Over Little NATO Exercises

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

Russia’s Big Fuss Over Little NATO Exercises

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

Russia’s Big Fuss Over Little NATO Exercises

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

Russia’s Big Fuss Over Little NATO Exercises

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

New Atlanticist

May 12, 2009

Russia’s Big Fuss Over Little NATO Exercises

By David Smith

The first of two successive NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) exercises began yesterday at the Vaziani Georgian Armed Forces Base, 30 kilometers east of Tbilisi.  The objective of Exercises Longbow and Lancer is to improve the abilities of the 14 participating nations to respond cooperatively to crises.

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

May 11, 2009

Craddock: NATO Political Leadership AWOL

By James Joyner

Supreme Allied Commander John Bantz Craddock told the Atlantic Council that “political leadership in NATO is AWOL” and that fixing the “imbalance” between an enormous strategic ambition and modest political will is vital for success in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

NATO Security & Defense

Transcript

May 11, 2009

General John Craddock Event Transcript

FREDERICK KEMPE:  Greetings.  I’m Fred Kempe, president and CEO of the Atlantic Council, and it’s a pleasure for me to welcome you all to this installment, a very important installment, of our Commander Series, which is one of the most popular things we do here, bringing some of the leading U.S. and European commanders to […]

Afghanistan NATO
Georgia Russia Flags

New Atlanticist

May 5, 2009

Georgia Army Mutiny: Russia-Backed Coup Attempt?

By James Joyner

Georgia has put down a rebellion at an army barracks near Tblisi, which President Mikheil Saakashvili’s government is claiming was “coordinated with Russia and aimed at minimum thwarting NATO military exercises.”  Moscow says this allegation is “mad.”

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 1, 2009

EU and NATO: Interlocking or Interblocking?

By Kenneth Weisbrode

With many of the world’s navies engaged in anti-pirate patrols off the coastal waters of Somalia, it’s no surprise to find French, German and Spanish frigates among them. The frigates are there, though, not under their respective national commands, but rather under that of a joint EU naval force, whose mission is to protect World […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

May 1, 2009

NATO Expels Russian Diplomats on Espionage Charges

By Valerie Nichols

 The expulsion of two Russian diplomats from the nation’s mission to NATO will surely put a damper in recent attempts to thaw relations.  Yesterday’s confirmation of the action comes only one day after the first resumption of formal talks between NATO and Russian representatives since last summer’s war with Georgia.  The talks were meant to […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Apr 30, 2009

Petraeus: NATO Faces Very Urgent Moment

By James Joyner

General David Petraeus, in his acceptance speech for the Atlantic Council’s 2009 Distinguished Military Leader Award, proclaimed that he is “a huge believer in the importance of the Alliance” but warned that NATO “now faces a very urgent moment.”

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Apr 29, 2009

NATO and Russia Resume Formal Relations

By James Joyner

NATO and Russia today resumed formal relations, which were broken off in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Georgia.

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Apr 21, 2009

Kazakhstan Withdraws From NATO Exercise

By James Joyner

Kazakhstan has pulled out of an annual NATO training exercise following Russia’s demand that it be canceled. A founding member of the Partnership with Peace, Astana is carefully balancing its relations with the West and its former overlord.

Central Asia NATO

New Atlanticist

Apr 17, 2009

NATO Supply Route Through Caucasus Needed

By Tamerlan Vahabov

Instability along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is making alternative supply routes for NATO troops increasingly necessary.

Afghanistan NATO
Load More

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
Load More

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