Northern Europe

Northern Europe holds great geostrategic importance to the transatlantic community as trade routes, emerging competition in the Arctic, and sustained Russian pressure make the region a key security concern for competing powers. Northern European states are active members of the transatlantic community, and they face similar concerns with their allies and partners: climate change, foreign influence campaigns, disinformation, and growing populist sentiment. Despite disagreements on fundamental policy issues, the United States must continue to engage its regional allies and partners.

Content

Dispatches

Jan 27, 2026

How the Nordic-Baltic states became Europe’s reliable security engine

By Anna Wieslander

Eight Northern European states are acting together early and turning solidarity into capabilities and delivery. 

NATO Northern Europe

Dispatches

Jan 22, 2026

The US is taking action against Russia’s shadow fleet. In the Baltic Sea, Europe should follow suit.

By Justina Budginaite-Froehly

European nations should force Russia’s shadow fleet out of the Baltic Sea and help to reshape the maritime legal order.

Maritime Security Northern Europe

In the News

Jan 21, 2026

Wieslander on Swedish radio

On Wednesday, January 21, Director for Northern Europe, Anna Wieslander, was interviewed on Swedish national radio to comment on Donald Trump’s speech in Davos. Following a week marked by a “war of words,” during which the U.S. President issued a series of escalatory statements, the announcement to refrain from the use of force against Greenland […]

Northern Europe Security & Defense

In the News

Jan 21, 2026

Rich Outzen discusses Greenland on TRT World print

Defense Policy Greenland

In the News

Jan 19, 2026

Kroenig quoted in Wall Street Journal on Greenland

By Atlantic Council

On January 19, Atlantic Council vice president and Scowcroft Center senior director Matthew Kroenig was quoted in The Wall Street Journal on the Trump administration's policy toward Greenland, arguing that threats are a negotiating tool leveraged by the Trump administration.

Greenland NATO

In the News

Jan 18, 2026

Kroenig on BBC on Greenland

By Atlantic Council

On January 18, Atlantic Council vice president and Scowcroft Center senior director Matthew Kroenig was interviewed on BBC's Newshour on how Trump's threats towards Greenland are impacting the NATO alliance.

Greenland Northern Europe

In the News

Jan 18, 2026

Wieslander on Swedish national television

On Sunday, January 18, Anna Wieslander, Director for Northern Europe, participated in a panel on the Swedish news program Agenda to discuss the threat of U.S. tariffs and the escalating Greenland crisis. “With Trump’s inauguration, we entered a new era, and we are now experiencing its effects,” Wieslander argues, noting that the new administration’s foreign policy posture […]

Northern Europe Security & Defense

Dispatches

Jan 13, 2026

Greenland’s critical minerals require patient statecraft

By Reed Blakemore, Alexis Harmon

The island’s mineral wealth will take a decade or more to translate into meaningful supply.

Critical Minerals Energy & Environment

In the News

Jan 12, 2026

Wieslander on Swedish Radio podcast

On site at Rikskonferensen 2026, Sweden’s largest conference on defense and security, Anna Wieslander, Director for Northern Europe, featured on the podcast Europapodden (The Europe Podcast) to discuss the European response to Trump’s demands regarding Greenland. “This is a serious crisis that has emerged. A military move by Trump would be NATO’s darkest hour, causing article […]

Northern Europe Security & Defense

In the News

Jan 10, 2026

Bayoumi quoted in AP News on the US lack of Arctic strategy

By Atlantic Council

On January 10, Imran Bayoumi, associate director of the GeoStrategy Initiative, was quoted in an Associated Press article titled "How the US could take over Greenland and the potential challenges," arguing that Trump's threats against Greenland reflect broader US failures to prioritize Arctic strategy.

Northern Europe Politics & Diplomacy

Experts