"Bad rhetoric but good substance" – NATO Engages: Innovating the Alliance

Following previous events in Brussels in July 2018 and Washington in April 2019, the Munich Security Conference (MSC) hosted this interactive dialogue format with selected international partner organizations for the third time. The agenda focused on the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the face of new threats and geopolitical uncertainties. Titled "Innovating the Alliance," the event offered NATO states' "next generation" an opportunity to actively participate in the debate. Thanks to close cooperation with NATO and the British government in planning and implementing the event, the event also counted a significant number of high-ranking decision-makers among the participants.

NATO remains the most important security guarantor for the Euro-Atlantic area. Accordingly, an active discussion of the challenges facing the Alliance – ranging from climate change to rapid technological developments, such as in the field of artificial intelligence – is all the more crucial. The NATO Leaders Meeting in London covered these issues at the official governmental level. Meanwhile, the MSC, as a partner of NATO, contributed by fostering a broad public debate on the Alliance's key challenges for the future. "NATO Engages" offered a platform for this debate – and in particular for young voices and new ideas, as a majority of the more than 600 participants were younger than 35. Together, they discussed with NATO leaders such as Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Polish President Andrzej Duda.

More robust, more flexible and more agile: NATO at 70

In the run-up to the event, statements from both Paris and Ankara had triggered a debate on the current state of NATO, its operational capability, and its internal cohesion. Yet it became very clear at "NATO Engages" that the Alliance relies on this open and frank debate in order to be able to adapt and thus stay relevant. After all, critical and constructive exchange in case of internal disagreements constitutes one of the Alliance's core strengths. Several speakers therefore stressed the fact that NATO has been in existence for seventy years not despite but because of the many crises it has weathered. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau underscored that "frank and real discussions" have ultimately made NATO a "more robust, flexible and agile organization." In a similar fashion, British Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace emphasized NATO's special adaptability to meet tomorrow's challenges in his remarks.

"Actions speak louder than words": Security challenges

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg highlighted that NATO is doing more than it has for decades: "We have bad rhetoric, but extremely good substance." According to Stoltenberg, "NATO's actions speak louder than words" when considering the allies' increasing defence spending.
However, where exactly NATO's "actions" are needed is the subject of intense debate. On the one hand, the Alliance's greatest challenges include global issues such as the effects of climate change and the speed of technological progress. On the other hand, the Alliance must also respond to geopolitical changes such as Russia's foreign policy and China's emerging global role. In this context, former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's remarks stressed the "global dimension of NATO". He referred to the Alliance’s self-image as a community of values for the preservation of basic democratic principles beyond its borders. Looking ahead to the next 70 years, much remains to be done for the Alliance – both in terms of managing internal cohesion as well as in preparing for external challenges.

Further Information

For the full agenda as well as for more information on the consortium behind "NATO Engages: Innovating the Alliance," visit nato-engages.org. A selection of photos from the event is available in our media library. If you want to learn more about transatlantic security and European defence cooperation, read the MSC report "More European, More Connected and More Capable: Building the European Armed Forces of the Future".