{"id":76614,"date":"2019-11-16T15:02:20","date_gmt":"2019-11-16T15:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smg.go-vip.net\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/11\/16\/this-could-get-a-little-ugly-what-to-watch-for-at-the-nato-leaders-summit\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:41:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:41:24","slug":"this-could-get-a-little-ugly-what-to-watch-for-at-the-nato-leaders-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/16\/this-could-get-a-little-ugly-what-to-watch-for-at-the-nato-leaders-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This could get a little ugly.\u2019 What to watch for at the NATO leaders summit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 When the leaders of the 29 NATO nations gather in London at the start of December, the focus will nominally be on a celebration of the past and a look to the future. But analysts agree that as much as the event is billed as NATO\u2019s 70th birthday, politics could make the situation feel more like a funeral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At a Nov. 14 event <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlanticcouncil.org\/event\/the-road-to-the-2019-nato-leaders-meeting\/\" target=_blank>hosted by the Atlantic Council<\/a>, supporters of NATO such as Lithuanian defense minister <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/outlook\/2018\/12\/10\/lithuanias-defense-minister-it-will-be-a-good-year-for-nato\/\" target=_blank>Raimundas Karoblis<\/a> said the London meeting needs to \u201creconfirm alliance unity, cohesion\u2026 as well as to find political, moral and resource investments.\u201d But there was little optimism in the crowd that the meeting will be able to transcend the political moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The focus, NATO watchers agree, will be on three presidents who have shaken the alliance in recent years. U.S. President Donald Trump began his criticisms of NATO while still campaigning for office, and during the last meeting of NATO leaders hinted at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/nato-priorities\/2018\/07\/12\/trump-departs-nato-summit-we-are-very-happy\/\" target=_blank>possibly leaving the alliance<\/a>. The decisions by President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan of Turkey to buy a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2019\/11\/12\/heres-what-could-cause-the-next-russian-s-400-shipment-to-turkey-to-arrive-late\/\" target=_blank>Russian air defense system<\/a> against the wishes of NATO, as well as to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/11\/no-us-forces-harmed-by-explosion-in-syria-says-official\/\" target=_blank>move forces into Syria<\/a>, has led to open questions about whether Turkey remains a viable NATO ally. And most recently, comments from French President Emmanuel Macron shocked allies with critical comments about NATO in an interview with the Economist, where he complained of \u201cbrain death\u201d in the alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All those issues \u2014 not to mention the U.K.\u2019s own election just days later, which could have major reverberations in Britain\u2019s relations with its European allies \u2014 means \u201cthis could get a little ugly, and all the positive agenda items [planned] could get drowned out by the noise,\u201d said Alexander Vershbow, a former NATO deputy secretary general and American ambassador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Added Richard Hooker, a former director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council, \u201cI think the timing of the leaders meeting is unfortunate. There\u2019s a convergence of controversies and events that are going on right now\u2026 I\u2019m not optimistic that it\u2019s going to go smoothly, or that there are going to be a lot of smiles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., expressed concern that anytime NATO \u201cshows its dysfunction,\u201d it makes it harder for members of Congress to secure funding for the alliance through efforts like the European Deterrence Initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo ideally, I\u2019d love for everyone to get together, talk about some future roles, talk about successes they\u2019ve had, but this would be the time for stability and for having some level of friendly conversations,\u201d said Gallego, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. \u201cNo drama. I think this is one of the few times that we should hope that everything is really, really boring, because boring is safe.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>A look to the future<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the politics being what they are, expect the London event to focus into a safer space of discussing the alliance\u2019s technological edge versus both Russia and, in the future, China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Edward Ferguson, a former British ambassador now serving as minister counsellor for defence at the U.K. embassy, said he expects \u201can agreement to increase our tools to prepare, defend and deter against hybrid threats, by strengthening resilience, improving indicators and warnings.&#8221; He did not go into further details on what that might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ferguson also indicated that the NATO leaders will formally acknowledge space as a fifth domain of warfare for the alliance, following up on the 2016 pronouncement of cyber as a warfare domain. Also expect an emphasis on how the alliance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/munich-security-forum\/2018\/02\/16\/ai-warfare-is-coming-and-some-global-leaders-say-nato-isnt-ready\/\" target=\"_blank\">invests in artificial intelligence<\/a> and lots of talk about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/it-networks\/2019\/03\/06\/top-us-general-in-europe-wants-to-keep-china-out-of-5g-networks\/\" target=\"_blank\">5G networks<\/a> and how to make sure those lines of communication remain secure going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Military mobility will also be a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/opinion\/commentary\/2018\/07\/26\/exploring-the-allied-decisions-on-military-mobility-in-europe\/\" target=\"_blank\">major topic of discussion<\/a>, predicted Marta Kepe, an analyst with the RAND Corporation. She hopes to see \u201cmore development, more understanding and awareness of the role of non-military part of Europe, encouragement from private-public partnerships, either through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2018\/03\/29\/eu-pushes-new-plans-to-rapidly-move-combat-gear-across-europe\/\" target=\"_blank\">NATO-EU relationships<\/a> or through other frameworks\u201d when it comes to mobility issues. That also involves greater communications between NATO and the EU on those projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That NATO will continue to push on the need to modernize even amidst the politics does provide some optimism for its supporters, perhaps best summed up by Hooker when he said \u201cTaking the long view, I have a lot of confidence and optimism. It\u2019ll be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But he added: \u201cI\u2019m glad I won\u2019t be in London.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Say qualified observers: much as the event is billed as NATO\u2019s 70th birthday, politics could make the situation feel more like a funeral.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":52470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":86,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[29,116,117,15,86],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3302],"class_list":["post-76614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"YLDWHQTTZNEPHACVDELVDYOCNE","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2019\/11\/16\/this-could-get-a-little-ugly-what-to-watch-for-at-the-nato-leaders-summit\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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