INVITATION: NATO Summit: what is at stake for the Czech Republic, the U.S., and the Alliance?

We would like to cordially invite you to the debate with LTG (Ret.) Ben Hodges titled "NATO Summit: what is at stake for the Czech Republic, the U.S., and the Alliance?" which will take place on July 9, 2018 from 17:30 to 19:00 at the American Center in Prague.

• LTG (Ret.) Ben Hodges, Pershing Chair of Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington, ex-Commander of the U.S. Army in Europe (2014-2017)
• Jakub Landovský, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Defence
• Petr Kolář, former Czech ambassador to the US and former Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister for Bilateral Relations

​Moderation: Martin Michelot, Deputy Director, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy

On July 11 and 12, the 28 heads of state and government of the Atlantic Alliance will meet to debate the future orientations of the organization. After two summits destined to provide immediate reassurance and deterrence measures against a revanchist Russia, this “confirmation” summit should continue to fill the gaps in NATO’s deterrence posture and set the terms of the debate about the Alliance’s long-term perspectives. Set amidst a tense transatlantic situation, which may impact the nature of the discussions on burdensharing, the Summit should deliver on the reinforcement and adaptation of NATO’s command structures, set a new road for NATO’s approach to cyber, and deal with the Alliance’s contribution to the fight against terrorism. Part and parcel will also be a stock-taking exercise on EU-NATO cooperation and discussions about how to engage Russia; however, the most important word will be unity. Can NATO manage to maintain a high level of unity going into the Summit, and in implementing the decisions? What is at stake for the Czech Republicand the United States in this Summit? 

Martin Michelot
Senior Associate Research Fellow

Expertise: NATO and transatlantic security, European foreign policy and defense, French politics, elections and society, Visegrad Four and Central Europe, EU institutional issues