Report Spotlight: NATO 20/2020

NATO 20/2020: Twenty bold ideas to reimagine the Alliance after the 2020 US election

This volume of essays intended to push the Alliance to think boldly and creatively in the service of recapturing the public’s imagination. By prescribing ideas that “NATO should” pursue—be it devising new initiatives, course-correcting current policies, or sunsetting troubled endeavors—the volume is an appeal for an Alliance that is more visionary, more capable, and more self-evidently valuable to the security of more people.

Digitalize the enterprise

by Jeffrey Reynolds and Jeffrey Lightfoot

If NATO is to unlock new frontiers of innovation and harness emerging technology, digitalizing how it does business is the key.

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Listen to women

by Lisa A. Aronsson

Twenty years after its creation, NATO should affirm the strategic significance of the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda and define what it means for an era of great power competition.

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Ramp up on Russia

by Amb. Alexander Vershbow

NATO needs to increase the costs for Russian aggression while building back crucial dialogue if there is any prospect for improved relations with Moscow.

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Christen a carrier strike group

by Michael John Williams

Using the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales as its backbone, a NATO carrier strike group is an opportunity for high-end interoperability under European leadership.

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Supersize cyber

by Safa Shahwan Edwards, William Loomis, and Simon Handler

NATO should adopt a digital .2 percent policy whereby member states commit to spend .2 percent of their gross domestic product on cybersecurity and digital defense modernization.

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Put NATO back in the narrative

by Bridget Corna and Livia Godaert

NATO can recapture the imagination of allied publics by telling its own story better and in new ways to new audiences.

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Threaten decisive nuclear retaliation

by David Gompert and Hans Binnendijk

NATO should thwart Russian use of nuclear weapons by threatening certain retaliation.

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Modernize the kit and the message

by H.E. Dame Karen Pierce DCMG

NATO will only remain successful over the next seventy years if it modernizes its capabilities, takes command of emerging technology, and harmonizes its strategic messaging.

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Reimagine the Washington Treaty

by Damon Wilson and Will O’Brien

Reexamining NATO’s founding charter can be an exercise in creating an Alliance fit for a new geopolitical era.

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Rethink and replace two percent

by Derek Chollet, Steven Keil, and Christopher Skaluba

NATO’s two percent metric is reductive and politically fraught but offers lessons for better ways to measure burden sharing.

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Revitalize NATO’s grand strategy

by Amb. Timo Koster and Ivanka Barzashka

Collective strategic analysis is the pathway to a more inclusive, transparent, and systematic process for creating NATO’s next strategic concept.

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Build an Atlantic-Pacific Partnership

by James Hildebrand, Harry W.S. Lee, Fumika Mizuno, Miyeon Oh, and Monica Michiko Sato

NATO is the only institution capable of organizing transatlantic and transpacific stakeholders to address China’s political, military, and information threats.

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Set NATO’s sights on the High North

by Jim Danoy and Marisol Maddox

Security in the Arctic is waiting on no one. NATO needs a strategy for defense and deterrence in the High North before it is outflanked.

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End the Russian veto on Georgian accession

by Luke Coffey and Alexis Mrachek

Admitting Georgia to NATO without extending an Article 5 guarantee to Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region can fulfil the promise of the Bucharest Summit.

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Build resilience for an era of shocks

by Jim Townsend and Anca Agachi

NATO needs a fourth core task to protect allied populations from nontraditional threats like COVID and climate change.

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Seek membership for Mexico

by Christopher Skaluba and Gabriela R. A. Doyle

Mexico’s membership in NATO may be the key to keeping a rapidly changing America invested in European security.

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Open a bank

by Max Bergmann and Siena Cicarelli

NATO can fund critical defense investments by bringing the necessary financial tools in house.

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‘Game out’ decision making

by AM Sir Christopher Harper, KBE, RAF (Ret.)

In an era where the distinction between peace and conflict is increasingly complex, NATO should retain its competitive advantage by using synthetic environments and virtual worlds to support rapid, efficient, and effective strategic decision making.

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Disband the NATO Response Force

by John R. Deni

Replacing the NRF with a plug-and-play interoperability model increases the chance that NATO will employ its high-readiness forces.

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Design a Digital Marshall Plan

by the Hon. Ruben Gallego and the Hon. Vicky Hartzler

NATO allies, led by the United States, must cooperate in securing national 5G communications systems in Europe and beyond against malign Chinese influence.

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Put NATO back in the narrative

By Bridget Corna and Livia Godaert

NATO can recapture the imagination of allied publics by telling its own story better and in new ways to new audiences.

Read the essay

Seek membership for Mexico

By Christopher Skaluba and Gabriela R. A. Doyle

Mexico’s membership in NATO may be the key to keeping a rapidly changing America invested in European security.

Read the essay

Modernize the kit and the message

By H.E. Dame Karen Pierce DCMG

NATO will only remain successful over the next seventy years if it modernizes its capabilities, takes command of emerging technology, and harmonizes its strategic messaging.

Read the essay

Reimagine the Washington Treaty

By Damon Wilson and Will O’Brien

Reexamining NATO’s founding charter can be an exercise in creating an Alliance fit for a new geopolitical era.

Read the essay
The NATO 20/2020 podcast

NATO in America

NATO 20/2020 Nov 24, 2020

Ramp up on Russia: NATO 20/2020 podcast

By Transatlantic Security Initiative

NATO needs to increase the costs for Russian aggression while building back crucial dialogue if there is any prospect for improved relations with Moscow.
Arms Control Europe & Eurasia
NATO in America

NATO 20/2020 Jan 12, 2021

Build an Atlantic-Pacific partnership: NATO 20/2020 podcast

By Transatlantic Security Initative

NATO is the only institution capable of organizing transatlantic and transpacific stakeholders to address China’s political, military, and information threats.
Australia China
NATO in America

NATO 20/2020 Nov 19, 2020

Rethink and replace 2%: NATO 20/2020 podcast

By Transatlantic Security Initiative

NATO’s two percent metric is reductive and politically fraught but offers lessons for better ways to measure burden sharing.
Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia
Coming soon

NATO in America: Engaging a New Community of Champions

Beginning in 2021, the Transatlantic Security Initiative will build on the NATO 20/2020 volume and execute a project focused on increasing and diversifying support for NATO with communities outside of Washington, D.C. Through a sustained effort including media engagement, polling, outreach to local leaders and communities in specific areas of the country, and town hall events, this effort will engage Americans in discussion on NATO’s enduring value while promoting and identifying new policy ideas that are self evidently valuable to the interests of more Americans.
Featured Commentary

Five big questions as America votes: NATO

How should NATO address challenges from Russia and China? How should we measure success in enhancing NATO and how can we make the case to the American public that NATO is as relevant as ever?

Why NATO should adopt a feminist foreign policy

NATO should formally adopt a feminist foreign policy for two reasons: because morally it is the right thing to do and because FFP will strengthen the Alliance.

Will NATO still be relevant in the future?

“Having allies and institutions like NATO gives us an extraordinary advantage over Russia, China, and other adversaries,” Alexander Vershbow said.
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