NATO 2030: Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Strengthening the Alliance in a Post-COVID World
Editor's Note: This event was co-hosted by the Atlantic Council and the German Marshall Fund with introductions from GMF President Karen Donfried and Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe. This discussion was moderated by Alliance for Securing Democracy Fellow and Program Manager Nad’a Kovalcikova.
NATO must “stay strong militarily, be more united politically, and take a broader approach globally,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an online conversation with GMF and the Atlantic Council.
The coronavirus crisis had shown that many new challenges, including non-military threats, can only be addressed through multilateral institutions, of which “NATO is one of the biggest and most important”, said Stoltenberg. Asked about NATO’s future in Afghanistan, Stoltenberg said that the alliance would put more emphasis on training and local capacity building. Enhancing countries’ internal stability will be the “best weapon to fight terrorism,” he said.
Despite the ever-changing global security environment, NATO’s Strategic Concept will not be revised anytime soon. “We have undertaken huge changes of NATO with the same Strategic Concept. The most important thing is not whether we have a new Strategic Concept or not, but that we are able to change NATO as the world is changing,” Stoltenberg said.