Czech Expectations for the Chicago Summit
Czech Expectations for the Chicago Summit

Summary/Abstract: The upcoming NATO Summit carries a great deal of symbolism. It is the first summit to be held on American soil since the 1999 Washington Summit when the Alliance celebrated its 50th anniversary by welcoming three post-communist countries, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. The 1999 summit was a landmark summit not only because enlargement was undertaken at the time of the Kosovo campaign. The meeting also attempted to improve transatlantic interoperability and burden-sharing through the Defence Capabilities Initiative. The 2012 summit will not be transformational in the same way; rather, it will attempt to provide reassurance for the continued relevance of the transatlantic bond, collective defence and thus the Alliance’s raison d‘être proper. With this comes an acceptance of a fairer distribution of responsibilities between the U.S. and Europe and a shoring up of resources to maintain and develop core capabilities. A redefinition of NATO’s presence and role in Afghanistan, as well as a comprehensive review of the U.S. presence in Europe will form the “operational background” of the summit.

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