WIIS Brussels asks ahead of the NATO Engages: The Brussels Summit Dialogue!

On July 11-12, heads of state and government, military leaders, and senior officials gather at the 2018 NATO Summit in Brussels. In partnership with NATO, the Atlantic Council, the German Marshall Fund (GMF), and the Munich Security Conference (MSC), we – Women In International Security (WIIS) Brussels are organizing the official high-profile outreach event alongside the official Summit.

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America’s NATO Allies Are Stepping Up

Brussels, the city I’ve called home since becoming secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2014, is only a couple hours’ drive from some of the 20th century’s bloodiest battlefields.

Many of them, such as Bastogne and Nijmegen Bridge, were the sites of outstanding acts of valor by American soldiers. Europeans will always be grateful for the sacrifices those men made to bring freedom back to our shores.

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NATO: The United States’ Alliance

In a few days, US President Donald J. Trump will meet with his fellow heads of state and government from across the NATO alliance in Brussels, Belgium, and there is widespread concern that it will once again be a meeting where the United States is scornful of its allies and partners. Some even fear that this may be the beginning of the end of NATO and the bond between the United States and Europe.

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The Modern Alliance: Thirty Years of NATO Operations

As the NATO summit nears, attention has been focused on the defense spending of European NATO members and whether the Alliance has been “too costly for the United States,” as claimed by US President Donald J. Trump. Long-standing burden-sharing concerns have morphed into larger disagreements on the value the United States gets from being part of NATO.

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Complementarity Without Competition: How NATO Can Benefit from Stronger European Defense Cooperation

Despite the current political tension in the transatlantic bond, the facts on the ground for NATO’s summit in Brussels on July 11 and 12 could not be better. After years of calls from the United States for more defense investment, NATO allies have been responding ever more credibly to meet the rising threats in the east and the south, independently and together. 

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Here’s Why the United States Needs NATO

US President Donald J. Trump sent ripples through the transatlantic community after sending letters to NATO allies demanding that they spend more on their own defense. Trump’s stance appears to stem from the belief—shared by many in the United States—that European allies have long taken advantage of American military protection without making a fair contribution to common security. 

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