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The German Marshall Fund of the United States

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Security and Defense Program

GMF’s security and defense policy (SDP) work comprises a stream of activities that further objective analysis and debate on key security issues facing the transatlantic community. The team’s work spans regional and functional issues, from NATO affairs to U.S. Foreign Policy to European Security.  

SDP’s work is driven by its network of experts, located in GMF’s offices in Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Warsaw, and Washington. Collectively, these experts produce research and analysis and convene strategic events. The team covers a broad array of topics, such as, security in Europe's East, the strategic environment in the Mediterranean, and the role of Turkey as a transatlantic partner.

Ongoing Projects:

Baltic Quad Series: This series seeks to better understand the pressing security issues facing the Baltics and its transatlantic partners. With the support of the Latvian Ministry of Defense, GMF regularly convenes select senior American, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian officials, alongside policy and academic experts, for a series of Track 1.5 off-the-record discussions.

Future of American Power Series: This series discusses new books focusing on U.S. power in the world.

NATO at Brussels Forum: A pillar of the transatlantic partnership, NATO is a perennial topic and essential component of GMF’s flagship convening effort, the Brussels Forum. 

Transatlantic Security Task Force: This program, created in 2012 with the support of Airbus, brings together, three times a year, a group of high-level American and European security experts, strategic thinkers, government officials, and private sector representatives from the defense industry, to explore the security priorities for transatlantic cooperation and stimulate a much-needed dialogue on looming threats and possibilities of cooperation.

The Warsaw Security Series: This series brings together policymakers, key experts, industry voices, and journalists from Poland with voices from the U.S., NATO, the EU, and other European allies for in-depth discussions on European security. The series combines an intimate off-the-record discussion for up to 35 people, with a public event bringing together an audience of 80-120 people from the broader policy community.

Transatlantic Strategy Toward Russia: Since its inception in 2015, this project has welcomed many of the transatlantic policy community’s most prominent and respected members including senior government officials, thinkers, military representatives, and strategists from Poland, Europe, and the United States. This venture has become a primary platform for discussion of the political, economic, and social dynamics influencing the U.S.-Europe-Russia relationship.

European Defense Cooperation in a New Transatlantic Area: This program, created in 2017 with the support of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aims to foster European dialogue on defense issues and provide policy recommendations to strengthen defense and security cooperation among European powers. It includes an annual workshop bringing together high-level European and U.S. experts and officials, as well as publications and private briefings. It analyzes the implementation of EU defense initiatives, the evolution of threat perception and strategic priorities across Europe, and the articulation of deeper European defense cooperation with the transatlantic defense partnership.

Previous Projects:

Future of U.S. Global Leadership 
German-American Dialogue on the Post-Soviet Space
NATO Warsaw Summit
The Voice of the Flank Security Forum

Photo credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com

Related Work

NATO

Europe's East and Russia

Transatlantic Security Task Force

Brussels Forum

Baltic Quad Series

Featured Work

Policy Paper

Strategic Spiral: Arms Control, U.S.-Russian Relations, and European Security

Mar 10, 2020 | By Steven Keil, Sophie Arts

Photo Credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock

In the News

Where is NATO? And Where is Trump?

Apr 14, 2020 | By Derek Chollet, Michal Baranowski, Steven Keil

Photo Credit: Frontpage / Shutterstock

Transatlantic Take

Transatlantic Take 360: The Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons at 50

Mar 5, 2020 | By Steven Keil, Martin Quencez, Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Guillaume Xavier-Bender

Expert Spotlight

Derek Chollet

Ian Lesser

Vice President and Executive Director, Brussels

Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer

Director of Research, Transatlantic Security and Director of the Paris Office

Michal Baranowski

Director, Warsaw Office
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Most Recent Content

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Flexible Security Arrangements and the Future of NATO Partnerships

Feb 16, 2021 | By Sophie Arts, Steven Keil

Photo Credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock

In the News

As the Pandemic Rages On, It's Time for NATO to Step Up

Nov 3, 2020 | By Derek Chollet, Jamie Fly

Photo Credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock

Transatlantic Take

Rethink and Replace Two Percent

Oct 19, 2020 | By Derek Chollet, Steven Keil, Christopher Skaluba

Photo Credit: Eugene Regis / Shutterstock

In the News

In 2020, Eisenhower is a Lantern in the Dark

Sep 8, 2020 | By Derek Chollet
Blog post

A “Better Deal”? : GMF Experts Weigh in on the U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Germany

Jul 31, 2020 | By Derek Chollet, Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Michal Baranowski, Kristine Berzina, Bruno Lété
View more Research & Analysis »
View more Perspectives »
Strengthening Transatlantic Cooperation

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