On December 4, 2014, The European Institute hosted a breakfast discussion with The Honorable Marko Mihkelson, Member of the Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament) & Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee who assessed the rapidly evolving global security environment facing both Europe and the United States.  Mr. Mihkelson emphasized that the current situation in Ukraine and Europe’s Eastern neighborhood presents a challenge not only to Estonia but to all countries that respect international law share common values, and he stressed the importance of updating the European Security Strategy which has not been revised since 2003.

On November 12, 2013, The European Institute, in partnership with the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia hosted a special meeting with The Honorable Roman Jakic, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Slovenia to discuss the future of Euro-Atlantic security integration. Minister Jakic focused on the prospects for greater regional cooperation in the Balkans, the prospects for NATO enlargement in 2014, and the vital role that NATO continues to play in insuring security for both Europe and the United States in a rapidly changing global strategic environment.

Click here to read Minister Jakic's remarks.

Offhand, it’s hard to imagine a less propitious time and place for a NATO summit than the present gathering in Chicago.   From the start, of course, the event has been designed as an election boost for President Obama.   Why else Chicago, halfway through a presidential campaign?   Nobody who hasn’t observed this at close hand can comprehend the complexity and cost of setting up secure accommodations and communications for participants at summits like this. (Chicago was expecting 5000 delegates and their staffs, along with 2000 media.) 

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Is the Obama administration edging quietly towards an historic shift in U.S. national security strategy? Is a change in the works going far beyond the “pivot to Asia” and troop drawdown in Europe announced by the President in January as the first outcome of the Congressionally-mandated need to cut defense spending?

 

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In preparation for the upcoming NATO Summit in Chicago this spring, The European Institute convened a distinguished panel on Decembereinatomtg1220113 15, 2011 to discuss the evolution of the U.S. – E.U.-NATO relationship. Antonella Cerasino, head of the NATO Countries Section in the Public Diplomacy Division at NATO; Ambassador Robert Hunter, Director of the Center for Transatlantic Security Studies at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University; Ambassador Kurt Volker, Managing Director and Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies; Brigadier General Bruno Caitucoli, Defense Attaché at the Embassy of France; and Rory Dunn, Political Counselor at the Delegation of the European Union in Washington participated. einatomtg1220112The discussion was moderated by Leo Michel, Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. The gist of issues explored by the EI forum’s far-ranging discussion is available here in a report by John Barry, written in compliance with Chatham House rules.

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