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The NATO Summit

NATO’s Vilnius Summit

At the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 11-12, allied leaders will gather to take significant steps on Ukraine, defense and deterrence, China, and beyond Our experts break down everything you need to know, from NATO’s future relationship with Ukraine to the plan for the Alliance’s strategic future.

Russian War Report: Wagner is still in business in Africa

Issue Brief May 23, 2023

Providing long-term security for Ukraine: NATO membership and other security options

This issue brief evaluates membership and other security options for the alliance and its members to consider with regards to Ukraine, from formal actions by NATO as a whole to collective or individualized efforts by member nations.

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Russian War Report: Wagner is still in business in Africa

Issue Brief Apr 11, 2023

Defining success for NATO’s Vilnius summit: A primer

By Charles Barry and Christopher Skaluba

A successful NATO summit in July requires significant progress on a host of NATO’s political and military priorities, especially those enumerated at Madrid.

Europe & Eurasia National Security
Russian War Report: Wagner is still in business in Africa

Issue Brief Apr 18, 2023

NATO deterrence and defense: Military priorities for the Vilnius Summit

By Franklin D. Kramer

Ahead of the NATO Summit in Vilnius, this issue brief sets forth six priority actions that NATO should undertake to enhance its deterrent and defense posture.
Defense Technologies Europe & Eurasia

Featured events

Public Event Fri, May 5, 2023 • 8:30 am ET

Ideas to implementation: Priorities for NATO’s Vilnius Summit

After more than a year of Russia’s brutal, illegal, and unprovoked war in Ukraine, the transatlantic community remains at a critical juncture. The upcoming Vilnius summit is an opportunity for the Alliance to turn ideas into action.
Defense Policy Eastern Europe Europe & Eurasia NATO
Online Event Wed, April 19, 2023 • 10:30 am ET

NATO’s Vilnius summit: Ukraine’s future and the completion of Europe

NATO leaders are gathering in Vilnius in July to discuss the future of the alliance. What should NATO leaders do to vouch for Ukraine’s long-term security and stability? What steps should NATO take to ensure its own defenses against Moscow’s revisionist objectives?

Defense Policy Eastern Europe International Organizations NATO

NATO Expansion

Russian War Report: Wagner is still in business in Africa

Strategy Memo Apr 13, 2023

Memo to NATO leaders

NATO’s upcoming Vilnius summit has to produce more than a rhetorical expression of support for Ukraine. Allied leaders must leverage the opportunity to drive forward a NATO defense and deterrence posture that underscores NATO’s resolve to support Ukraine and begins the process of fully integrating Ukraine within the transatlantic community, including as a NATO member.
Conflict Europe & Eurasia
Russian War Report: Wagner is still in business in Africa

Issue Brief Jan 6, 2023

How allied Sweden and Finland can secure Northern Europe 

By Anna Wieslander, Eric Adamson, Jesper Lehto

NATO is approaching its ninth round of enlargement. The accession of Sweden and Finland—two solid democracies and defenders of the international-rules based order—into the Alliance will strengthen the core of the transatlantic community.
Defense Policy NATO
Russian War Report: Wagner is still in business in Africa

Issue Brief Aug 22, 2022

Sweden and Finland are on their way to NATO membership. Here’s what needs to happen next.

By John R. Deni

In response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden took the historic step of applying to join NATO. Both nations will bring modern capabilities that will help defend against malign actors. As Finland and Sweden’s membership is forthcoming, Alliance leaders, NATO watchers, and transatlantic security experts need to consider how to fully integrate the new allies, include them in operational plans, and best enhance defense of a longer border with Russia.
Europe & Eurasia National Security

New Atlanticist

Apr 13, 2023

NATO should offer Ukraine a membership plan now

By Franklin D. Kramer

Considering today’s geopolitics and NATO’s values, offering a membership action plan is the most effective and appropriate response to the challenge Russia presents.

Conflict NATO

New Atlanticist

Mar 18, 2023

Experts react: Turkey moves to approve Finland’s NATO membership. Where does that leave Sweden?

By Atlantic Council experts

After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would approve of Finland’s membership in NATO, our experts break down what’s next.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

New Atlanticist

Jan 30, 2023

Sweden has a chance to transform European security—even before it officially joins NATO

By Franklin D. Kramer

Sweden can wield the agenda-setting powers of its presidency to push a EU security and defense budget directed toward three crucial aims: mobility, sustainment, and critical infrastructure protection.

Defense Industry Defense Policy

Visualizing NATO’s priorities

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, US and NATO Eastern Flank force postures have been enhanced.

The United States and NATO allies have taken numerous steps to bolster allied force posture in Eastern Europe, enhancing deterrence against further Russian aggression and demonstrating the Alliance’s ability to defend its eastern flank.

Visualizing the NATO Strategic Concept: Five ways to look at the Alliance’s future

We asked our experts: With so much happening in the global arena, what critical but underappreciated topics will be featured in the Strategic Concept—and how should NATO think about addressing them?

Visualizing burden-sharing data

NATO allies contribute to a variety of missions. Here’s a look at how each country chips in.

The NATO alliance conducts a variety of missions on land, sea, and air. Here is a breakdown of how each country has been contributing to a selection of these missions.

Despite COVID-19 pandemic, NATO defense spending continues to rise

Even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, NATO allies have continued to increase their defense investments.

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NATO 20/2020

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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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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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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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.

Read the essay

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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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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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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‘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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Related program

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.

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Content

Russian officers from the wagner group are seen around Central African president Faustin-Archange Touadera as they are part of the presidential security system during the referendum campaign to change the constitution and remove term limits, in Bangui, Central African Republic July 17, 2023. REUTERS/Leger Kokpakpa

New Atlanticist

Jul 20, 2023

Russian War Report: Wagner is still in business in Africa

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

Despite their Russia-based forces being relocated to Belarus after their failed mutiny, Wagner Group is still alive and active in Africa, including ahead of a referendum in the Central African Republic.

Africa Belarus

UkraineAlert

Jul 18, 2023

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was never about NATO

By Peter Dickinson

Putin's relaxed response to the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden proves that he knows NATO enlargement poses no security threat to Russia but has used the issue as a smokescreen for the invasion of Ukraine, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Policy

In the News

Jul 17, 2023

Kroenig and Ashford debate the potential of NATO membership for Ukraine

On July 14, Foreign Policy published its biweekly "It's Debatable" column featuring Scowcroft Center Vice President and Senior Director Matthew Kroenig and Emma Ashford assessing the latest news in international affairs.

NATO NATO Partnerships

In the News

Jul 17, 2023

Charai in the National Interest: Sweden’s NATO Accession Limits Putin’s Options

By Atlantic Council

The Western powers are now more united with the Baltic nations than ever before. After months of diplomatic delays, Sweden can now join NATO—a genuine triumph for the Biden administration. This development has enormous geostrategic implications for the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Ahmed Charai is a Moroccan publisher and an Atlantic Council Board Director. He […]

Conflict Europe & Eurasia

In the News

Jul 16, 2023

Wieslander interviewed by Spanish La Razón

Anna Wieslander was interviewed on how Sweden will contribute to NATO’s collective security and the reaction from Russia. “Sweden has a modern and professional Armed Forces and an advanced defense industrial base. weden possesses a highly advanced air force, with the Swedish JAS Gripen fighter aircraft at its core. In addition, Sweden’s significant naval power, […]

NATO Northern Europe

Inflection Points

Jul 15, 2023

Dispatch from Vilnius: Inside a NATO Summit of high drama on Ukraine—and historic opportunity

By Frederick Kempe

The fireworks were unusual in a consensus-driven Alliance that values decorum and discretion. But the summit still yielded several strategic wins.

Conflict NATO

In the News

Jul 15, 2023

Wieslander interviewed by Svenska Dagbladet

Wieslander explains that she worked on NATO standardization in the 1990s at the Swedish Ministry of Defence. There she was responsible for the work on the partnership that Sweden entered into with the alliance. “Nevertheless, for various reasons, the countries have chosen to make national solutions and variants of a lot of different things, and […]

NATO Northern Europe

In the News

Jul 15, 2023

Wieslander interviewed by Finnish YLE

“If Turkey had not given Sweden the green light, the Vilnius meeting could not have been considered a success. The negotiations between Sweden and Turkey were difficult and required diplomatic efforts. Ulf Kristersson’s government worked hard on them, alongside the allies and also Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg,” Wieslander told Finnish news outlet YLE.

NATO Northern Europe

TURKEYSource

Jul 14, 2023

With re-election behind him, Erdogan is turning toward the West

By Grady Wilson

Turkey is sending signals to its Western allies that it's ready to strategically align with them. All parties should seize this opportunity.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Jul 13, 2023

Disappointed but not discouraged: Ukrainians react to NATO summit

By Peter Dickinson

The 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius failed to produce a breakthrough toward Ukrainian membership but did underline international support for Ukraine in the fight against Russia's invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Policy
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Experts

Staff

Anca Agachi

Associate Director

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Africa Conflict

Staff

Nika Aleksejeva

Resident Fellow, Baltics

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Belarus Disinformation

Millennium Leadership 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

Lisa Aronsson

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia NATO

Staff

Ryan Arick

Assistant Director

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

NATO Security & Defense
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