event

Is NATO a Good Deal? Making the Case for the Alliance to the Public

Tue. July 9th, 2024
Washington, D.C.

On July 9, representatives from NATO’s thirty-two member states will arrive in Washington, DC, for this year’s summit. Together they’ll mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of the most successful military alliance of all time. Despite its pivotal role in regional cooperation, defense, and deterrence, NATO is often poorly understood by the citizens of its member states. In the last decade, politicians on both sides of the Atlantic have maligned NATO’s function and fairness. Today, many in Europe and the United States wonder if the alliance is a “good deal” for their country. In a year of seminal elections on both sides of the Atlantic, voters are reassessing their views on investments in Ukraine and in transatlantic security more broadly.

Join the Carnegie Endowment’s Europe Program to begin NATO Summit week with a discussion of how leaders in Washington and beyond might make a stronger case for NATO, including to those wary of military engagements overseas. CNN’s Jim Sciutto will moderate a conversation between Senator John Hickenlooper, Janet Napolitano, a President’s Intelligence Advisory Board member and former U.S. secretary of homeland security and Governor of Arizona, and Tobias Billström, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Sweden, the newest NATO ally, about communicating the financial and military responsibilities of—and benefits to—member states, and the role of the alliance in citizens' personal security and prosperity.

A light breakfast reception will be served from 7:40 a.m. before the fireside chat begins. Live stream will official start at 8:20 a.m. EDT.

Foreign PolicyEurope
event speakers

Tobias Billström

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden

Tobias Billström serves as the minister for foreign affairs of Sweden. Before assuming the position in 2022, he served as the group leader of Sweden's Moderate Party in the Riksdag.

John Hickenlooper

U.S. Senator

Senator John Hickenlooper represents the state of Colorado. He previously served as the state's governor from 2011 to 2019, focusing on economic, health care, and climate reform.

Janet Napolitano

Founder, Center for Security in Politics at U.C. Berkeley

Janet Napolitano is the founder of the Center for Security in Politics at U.C. Berkeley. Napolitano served as the president of the University of California from 2013 to 2020, as the U.S. secretary of homeland security from 2009 to 2013, as governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009, as attorney general of Arizona from 1998 to 2003, and as U.S. attorney for the district of Arizona from 1993 to 1997.

Jim Sciutto

Anchor and Chief National Security Analyst, CNN

Jim Sciutto is CNN's chief national security analyst and anchor of CNN Newsroom with Jim Sciutto weekdays from 3-4pm ET on CNN Max and CNN International.