LOOK BACK ON THE WASHINGTON SUMMIT

Atlantic Council at the NATO Summit in Washington

Live commentary, authoritative analysis, and high-level events covering NATO’s Washington summit, courtesy of our experts.

Essays on the Alliance’s future

NATO’s seventy-fifth anniversary is a milestone in a remarkable story of reinvention, adaptation, and unity. However, as the Alliance seeks to secure its future for the next seventy-five years, it faces revanchist old rivals, escalating strategic competition, and uncertainties over the future of the rules-based international order. 

With partners and allies turning attention from celebrations to challenges, the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative invited contributors to engage with the most pressing concerns ahead of the historic Washington summit and chart a path for the Alliance’s future. This series features seven essays focused on concrete issues that NATO must address at the Washington summit and five essays that examine longer-term challenges the Alliance must confront to ensure transatlantic security. 

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.

Content

New Atlanticist

May 19, 2025

Experts react: What message did Romanians send by electing Nicusor Dan?

By Atlantic Council experts

The mathematician and mayor of Bucharest came out ahead of his right-wing rival on May 18. Atlantic Council experts sum up the election results and the implications.

Eastern Europe Elections

New Atlanticist

May 14, 2025

Inside Latvia’s race against time to build deterrence against Russia

By Armands Astukevičs and Hans Binnendijk

Latvia must convince its NATO allies to commit the necessary resources for its defense before Russia reconstitutes its forces.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

May 13, 2025

Drone superpower: Ukrainian wartime innovation offers lessons for NATO

By David Kirichenko

Today’s Ukraine is now a drone superpower with an innovative domestic defense industry that can provide its NATO allies with important lessons in the realities of twenty-first century warfare, writes David Kirichenko.

Conflict Defense Industry

Feature

May 13, 2025

Budginaite-Froehly in Wall Street Journal discussing Rail Baltica

By Justina Budginaite-Froehly

Transatlantic Security Initiative and Europe Center nonresident senior fellow, Justina Budginaite-Froehly, appeared in the Wall Street Journal to discuss how Europe’s strategic $27 billion railway project is addressing NATO concerns about Russian aggression in Europe.

NATO Non-Traditional Threats

In the News

May 7, 2025

Ullman in the Hill on how the Trump administration is shaping Europe, NATO, and geopolitics

On May 5, Atlantic Council Senior Advisor Harlan Ullman published an op-ed in the Hill on US President Donald Trump’s divergence from the traditional assumptions of the transatlantic alliance. He argues that, if the United States steps away from NATO, there is no clear European power poised to take a leadership role.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

New Atlanticist

May 7, 2025

Lessons from Latvia’s efforts to keep essential services running during a crisis

By Mārcis Balodis and Marta Kepe

Latvia has shifted its crisis-management thinking from a focus on infrastructure protection to an emphasis on continuity of essential services and functions.

Crisis Management Europe & Eurasia

UkraineAlert

May 6, 2025

The shadow of 1930s appeasement hangs over US-led peace talks

By Oleksandr Merezhko

As the world prepares to mark the eightieth anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, the shadow of events leading up to World War II hangs over efforts to end Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine, writes Oleksandr Merezhko.

Conflict European Union

New Atlanticist

May 5, 2025

What’s the best way to deal with Russian information manipulation? Latvia has answers.

By Elīna Vrobļevska and Beniamino Irdi

By combining policy tools, public education, media support, active debunking, and international partnerships, Latvia has built a layered defense.

Disinformation Europe & Eurasia

Transcript

May 1, 2025

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on US tariffs, European security, and risks from Russia, China, and Iran

By Atlantic Council

At an Atlantic Council Front Page event, Barrot said that if China wants to establish a "trusted relationship" with European countries, "it will have to show also that it takes our security interests into account."

European Union France

In the News

Apr 29, 2025

Michta in 19FortyFive and RealClearDefense on how a growing ideological gap across the Atlantic threatens NATO 

On April 26, Andrew Michta, senior fellow in the GeoStrategy Initiative, was published in 19FortyFive on the increasingly distant relations between Washington and Brussels that threaten to harm the future of the transatlantic alliance. He argues that the tensions between the United States and Europe are not merely based on policy but instead represent fundamental […]

Europe & Eurasia NATO

Experts

Events

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