The Washington NATO Project was started by four U.S. think tanks to generate new ideas and thinking about the transatlantic community’s role in a changing global security environment.
In fall 2008 our four U.S. think tanks – the Atlantic Council of the United States; the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); the Center for Technology and National Security Policy (CTNSP) at the National Defense University (NDU); and the Center for Transatlantic Relations (CTR) at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) -- launched the Washington NATO Project to spark debate before and after NATO’s 60th anniversary summit in April 2009. CSIS scholars involved in this project are Dr. Stephen J. Flanagan, Senior Vice President and Henry A. Kissinger Chair, and Julianne Smith, Former Director and Senior Fellow, Europe Program.
The Washington NATO Project seeks to generate new ideas and thinking about the transatlantic community's role in a changing global security environment. Over the past five months we have solicited views on NATO’s future from scores of current and former government officials and military leaders, legislators, think tank colleagues, scholars and other experts from both sides of the Atlantic. Four major conferences examined specific issues. The first conference, co-hosted by the Royal Netherlands Embassy and the SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations (CTR), focused on the strategic environment and implications for Alliance missions. The second conference, co-hosted by the Embassy of France and the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Advisors Group, focused on institutions and processes. The third conference, held at NDU with cooperation of the Embassy of Denmark, focused on capabilities. The final conference, co-hosted by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and CSIS, with support from the NATO Public Diplomacy Division and EADS, sought to bring the various strands together. This report draws on these consultations.