Success at the Lisbon Summit: The U.S. Perspective

President Barack Obama headed to Portugal on November 19-20 to join European allies for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit. The meeting was a critical opportunity for the 28 transatlantic partners to engage on a wide-ranging and daunting set of issues, including territorial missile defense, Afghanistan, nuclear policy and posture, and cybersecurity, among others. In addition, the 61-year-old alliance faces the larger questions of defining its enduring purpose through a new Strategic Concept document and establishing how it will address the emerging threats of the 21st century.

On November 22, following the NATO summit, the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings (CUSE) hosted Ivo Daalder, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, for an assessment of the meeting outcomes. In his remarks, Daalder examined the implications of the proceedings for U.S. relations with NATO allies, Russia, and the rest of the world. Daalder was appointed the U.S. Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in May 2009. Prior to being named to his current position, Daalder was a senior fellow at Brookings, specializing in American foreign policy, European security and transatlantic relations, and national security affairs.

Senior Fellow Fiona Hill, CUSE Director, provided introductory remarks and moderated the discussion. After the program, Ambassador Daalder took audience questions.