NATO at 75: Charting a New Course

Sponsored by the Center for Security Studies, this conference was inspired by the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The conference featured panels with prominent North American and European scholars and practitioners such as General Christopher G. Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith. Panel topics included the future of deterrence; burden-sharing; and NATO’s role in the Indo-Pacific.

The conference was held on Monday, April 8, 2024, at Georgetown University’s historic Gaston Hall, with the option to attend virtually.

Conference videos

Recordings of all sessions, including panels and keynote conversations, are available on YouTube.

View conference recordings

Keynote speakers and panelists

Keynote speakers

• Ambassador Julianne Smith, U.S. Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• General Christopher G. Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR)

Panelists and moderators

• Assistant Secretary General Angus Lapsley, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defense Policy and Planning
• Benedetta Berti, Head, Policy Planning, Office of the Secretary General NATO
• David E. Sanger, The New York Times
• Sara Moller, Associate Teaching Professor, Director of International and Alumni Affairs
• Leo Michel, Non-resident fellow, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
• Susan Colbourn, Associate Director, Program in American Grand Strategy, Duke University
• Heidi Hardt, Professor
• Sten Rynning, Professor
• Stephen J. Flanagan, Adjunct Senior Fellow, RAND Washington, and Adjunct Professor of Security Studies, School of Foreign Service
• Justyna Gotkowska, Deputy Director at the Warsaw-based Center for Eastern Studies (OSW) and head of the Security and Defence Department
• Heather Williams, Director of the Project on Nuclear Issues and senior fellow at the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
• Brian Blankenship, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Miami
• Sophia Besch, Fellow in the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Barry R. Posen, Ford International Professor of Political Science at MIT, Director Emeritus of the MIT Security Studies Program, and serves on the Executive Committee of Seminar XXI
• Camille Grand, Distinguished Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations
• Tara Varma, visiting fellow in the Center of the United States and Europe at Brookings
• Ambassador Ivo H. Daalder, Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, served as U.S. Ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama, on the U.S. National Security Council under President Bill Clinton
• Luis Simón, Director of the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS), Brussels School of Governance (BSoG-VUB); Director of the Brussels Office, Elcano Royal Institute; Senior Associate (non-resident), Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Visiting Fellow, the Robert Schuman Institute for Advanced Studies (European University Institute)