Last NATO Summit was held in Chicago, in May 2012. The Afghan transition, the missile defence system, and cyber defence policies were at the centre of the discussion then. Two years later, the on-going withdrawal from Afghanistan, Ukraine and Russia, Syria and Iraq, and the re-thinking of the Transatlantic Partnership will be at the centre of the attention.

NATO is still struggling with its own identity in a world where geopolitics keeps feeding social unrest and conflicts. The 1949 definition of NATO to the circumscription of the North Atlantic has been challenged since the end of Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall, but the discussion is ever more pertinent in a context where the focus of instability has changed from Europe to the Middle East.

Consensual areas of NATO’s contributions are more technologic and preventive: the cyber-domains, the defence policies, and the conceptualizing of international standards of security. These areas will probably also be in the agenda for the Wales meeting on the 4-5 September 2014.

Overviews

– NATO Summit Wales 2014

– NATO Summit Meetings

– NATO’s 2014 Summit Agenda

by Karl-Heinz Kamp

NATO Defense College Research paper, n. 97, September 2013

New developments in the international security landscape requeire constant adjustments to be made by the Alliance.

NATO documents

– NATO Secretary General releases 2013 Annual Report

23/01/2014

– 171st NATO Chiefs of Defence meeting

Brussels, 21 May. 2014 – 22 May. 2014

– NATO Parliamentary Assembly 2014 Declarations:

Declaration on Transatlantic Relations

Declaration on NATO Enlargement

Declaration on Supporting Ukraine

The challenges – Analyses

NATO Summit Must Make Further Progress on Smart Defense

By Richard Weitz,

World Politics Review, Aug. 12, 2014

NATO summit needs to make greater progress on so-called Smart Defense, the alliance-wide effort to get more collective benefits out of individual members’ defense budgets.

NATO’s chance to regroup

Dr Robin Niblett

The World Today, July 2014, Volume 70, Number 4

A summit that was expected to reflect upon NATO’s role after withdrawal from Afghanistan must now offer a decisive response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, while preparing to confront a more dangerous and unstable world from the Middle East to the South China Sea. NATO members must also ensure that they have the resources and the public support to make a reassertion of their alliance’s strategic purpose meaningful.

Time for NATO to Look Inward

Eugene Rumer

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, July 8, 2014

NATO foreign ministers’ announcement that no country will be invited to join the alliance at the summit in Wales in September is to be applauded as a responsible step in the face of the most profound crisis to confront the allies since the end of the Cold War.

Why Defense Matters: A New Narrative for NATO

Judy Dempsey, European Geostrategy, June 24, 2014

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is in search of a new narrative. While Russia’s involvement in Eastern Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea will not give NATO a new sense of solidarity, these events have highlighted what the alliance and its members must urgently do.

The Future of NATO: A Strong Alliance in an Unpredictable World

Transcript ; Video

Chatham House, London, 19 Jun 2014

Anders Fogh Rasmussen; Chair: Robin Niblett

“Now, we are facing another turning point in history. The world that we helped build after the end of the Cold War is being challenged.”

Flagging force? Options for the evolution of NATO

Jane’s Intelligence Review, Tate Nurkin, 2 june 2014

NATO is struggling to redefine its role as it withdraws from Afghanistan. Tate Nurkin assesses a range of possible outcomes for the alliance as it considers its response to myriad challenges, from security across Europe to transnational threats.

The Summit of Our Ambition? European Defence between Brussels and Wales

Sven Biscop, Egmont Institute

Security Policy Brief, No. 55, March 2014

When they meet at NATO’s Wales Summit in Newport on 4-5 September, the European Heads of State and Government should not see this as the first chapter of a new book, but as the next chapter of an existing one. The previous chapter was their meeting in Brussels last December for the European Council. The title of the book is European defence.

Stakeholders

European Union :

NATO and EU urged to align threat assessments

Jane’s Defence Weekly, 10 July 2014

Due to its difference with the EU over the status of Cyprus, Turkey blocks any formal co-operation between the EU and NATO – despite 22 countries being members of both organisations.

United States :

NATO Members Must Step Up and Spend More on Defense

Douglas Lute, Telegraph

August 8, 2014

In a dangerous world, the best way of ensuring peace is by better preparing for war, says US ambassador to Nato, Douglas Lute

United Kingdom :

Special Summit Series: The United Kingdom and NATO

Julian Lindley-French

The Atlantic Council, August 11, 2014

As host of the NATO Wales summit, British Prime Minister David Cameron faces a delicate challenge; strategy or politics?

Towards the next Defence and Security Review: Part Two-NATO

Third Report of Session 2014–15

House of Commons Defence Committee, House of Commons, UK Parliament, 31 July 2014

This Report focuses narrowly on NATO, Article 4 and 5 obligations, Ukraine, and the Baltic States, rather than the more general debate about Russia and global security threats.

We have chosen this focus because the NATO conference will be hosted by the UK in September (…)

Germany :

Merkel sceptical of NATO deployments in Eastern Europe

EurActiv Germany, 3 July 2014

During a visit by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted with caution to calls for permanent deployment of allied troops in Eastern European countries, amid fears of Russian retaliation in several member states.

Russia :

Three Steps That NATO Needs to Take with Russia

Micah Ables

Atlantic Community, June 19, 2014

Continuing the path of rhetoric without action, however, serves only to decrease Western credibility and continue allowing Putin to endanger Russia’s neighbors.

Greece :

Greece and NATO

Constantine A. Pagedas

The Atlantic Council, August 1, 2014

Within its first few years of existence, NATO experienced its initial wave of expansion in 1952 when Greece and Turkey joined the alliance.

Poland :

Poland and NATO

Ian Brzezinski

The Atlantic Council, August 5, 2014

Poland approaches the NATO September 4 summit intent on decisions that will strengthen the Alliance’s capability for collective defense.

Special Summit Series: Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and NATO

Simona Kordosova

The Atlantic Council, August 8, 2014

With NATO approaching its September summit in Wales, the time has come for Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to join Poland in its efforts to bolster regional security and shape the future of the Visegrad countries’ eastern periphery.

Areas of Intervention

NATO’s post-ISAF role in the world still uncertain, analysts say

Jane’s Defence Weekly, 8 July 2014

NATO leaders will struggle to come up with a new narrative to explain the alliance’s post-Afghanistan security role, unless the 28 allies develop a shared perception of threats.

The Dismal Present and Future of Smart Defense

Stephen Saideman

The German Marshall Fund, June 13, 2014

This paper discusses the limitations of specialization as a part of NATO’s Smart Defense program.

Collective Defence and Common Security: Twin Pillars of the Atlantic Alliance

Martin Butora et al., 10 June 2014

Chatham House

Key points from the Policy Experts report to NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, released at the Conference on Strengthening the Transatlantic Bond.

Reshaping Transatlantic Defense and Security for a post-Crimean world

Panel remarks by NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow at the

Wrocław Global Forum (Poland), 06 Jun. 2014

“Our Strategic Concept sets out collective defense, crisis management, and cooperative security as three essential core tasks for NATO. Although Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has changed the strategic environment in a fundamental way, all three core tasks remain essential, valid and vital for our security.”

Not only “Containerspotting” – NATO’s Redeployment from Landlocked Afghanistan

Heidi REISINGER

Research Paper n 98 – October 2013

This report examines logistical aspects of the withdrawal of the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from Afghanistan as well as the political implications it involves.