NATO by Nature

The perception of NATO has changed radically over the last few years. Only a few years ago, NATO manoeuvres were decried as "sabre rattling" and NATO declared as being "brain dead". Today, NATO is seen as the main stabilizing factor against Russian revisionism. This has led to Finland and Sweden ditching their concept of military non-alignment and applying for NATO membership to protect the sovereignty of their states. Finland has already been admitted, while Turkish President Erdogan recently announced that he would no longer obstruct Sweden's accession.

What do the "Nordics" potentially bring into the alliance? How does their admittance shift the balance within NATO, especially with respect to formerly "russophile" Germany and France? Why does Russia appear to be so cavalier about this NATO enlargement? How does it improve the security of the exposed Baltic states and how will NATO plans have to be adjusted?

Join our discussion on the results of the Vilnius NATO summit and how NATO is becoming more Northern than before.

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Dr. Marcus Pindur
Correspondent for Security Policy at Deutschlandfunk (DLF)

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Jeroen Dobber
Head of the Global Security Hub at Friedrich Naumann Foundation (Brussels)

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Dr. Iro Särkkä
Postdoctoral Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Helsinki

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Tony Lawrence
Head of Defence Policy & Strategy Programme at the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS), Tallinn