Franklin D. Kramer, Atlantic Council vice chair and member of the Strategic Advisors Group (SAG), recommends five initiatives for NATO designed to respond to global challenges in both the immediate and longer term.
The transatlantic partnership has historically been at the heart of U.S. foreign policy, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been at the heart of the partnership. But the factors that long made “transatlantic” the dominant foreign policy construct have fundamentally changed – and with it has come a need for concomitant strategic and operational changes to meet new requirements.
NATO is currently engaged in a philosophical review of its foundational principles as it undertakes to develop a new Strategic Concept to be adopted this November at the Lisbon Summit. The words of the concept will have little impact, however, unless they are implemented by a series of consequential initiatives that make NATO an effective organization in a new era of global competition.
Strategic Advisors Group:
To tackle the tough issues facing NATO and the transatlantic community, the Atlantic Council created the Strategic Advisors Group (SAG). Co-chaired by Atlantic Council Chairman Senator Chuck Hagel and Airbus CEO Tom Enders, the SAG is comprised of North American and European preeminent defense experts. Founded in 2007 by then-Atlantic Council Chairman General James L. Jones, General Brent Scowcroft, and former Norwegian Minister of Defense Kristin Krohn Devold, the SAG provides timely insights and analysis to policymakers and the public on strategic issues in the transatlantic security partnership through issuing policy briefs and reports, hosting strategy sessions for senior civilian and military officials, and providing informal expert advice to decision-makers.
NATO Issue Briefs:
- NATO Initiatives for an Era of Global Competition
- NATO’s Nuclear Policy in 2010
- NATO Reform and Decision-Making
- Article 5 and Strategic Reassurance
- The U.S., NATO and the EU: Partnership in the Balance
- The Challenge: NATO Amidst Geopolitical Realities
- A New Transatlantic Compact for NATO
The SAG and its activities are generously sponsored by the Scowcroft Group, EADS North America, and Airbus.