NATO: still relevant for global security?

NATO: Still Relevant for Global Security? 

****

Public confidence in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has been falling sharply in the US and EU countries, more notably since Trump presidency,  increasing tensions over the future of the military alliance. Back in 2019 French President Emmanuel Macron said the Alliance was in a state of “brain death”. But the alliance has formed a united front since the war in Ukraine broke out. From this point, can we talk about the NATO’s lasting revival?

****

The alliance of the US and 30 European countries  had been created at the start of the Cold War to contain the Soviet Union’s advances in the world. The collapse of the Soviet imperial rule in the late 1980s, however, did not lead to NATO’s demise, but the latter struggled to defend its relevance ever since, and critics, among them global powers’ leaders, started to more vocally doubt its suitability for the geopolitics of the 21st century.

But the crisis with Russia has suddenly breathed new life into NATO’s raison d’être. Now NATO is a key pillar of the Biden administration’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s antagonism has bolstered those who argue the continued relevancy of NATO’s historic mission as a counterweight to Moscow. Will this militarization of politics, driven by Kremlin, increase the perception of Europeans remaining exposed to serious risks to their security, and lead to the re-discovery of NATO’s importance?

We will gather this Thursday to reflect on the NATO’s role in the ongoing war in Ukraine and the prospects for its global renaissance. More specifically, we will focus on : 

• Enduring relevance of NATO in CEE
•  Security situation on NATO’s eastern flank
•  Russian aggression against Ukraine and its regional and global consequences
•  Revitalization of trans-Atlanticism in CEE and beyond

We are meeting on Thursday, April 7, 2022 at 17.00 CET in our virtual space on Zoom. 

Our guest speaker: 

Igor Merheim-Eyre is the Head of Office and Advisor on foreign, security and defense policies to Miriam Lexmann MEP. He is a Research fellow within the Global Europe Centre at the University of Kent (UK), and a co-founder of the Atlantic Forum.

Should you wish to take part in the upcoming discussion please fill in the registration form. 

The REGISTRATION DEADLINE is 7 April, 2022 (Thursday), 12:00PM

Zoom meeting code will be sent to the confirmed participants 3 hours before the start of the meeting. 

In case of questions, please do not hesitate to contact the responsible project manager Evgenia Jarabik at evgenia.jarabik@schuman-institute.eu. 

Looking forward to see you all in our chat room!

Evgenia Jarabik