(TIDE) Transatlantic Defence in an Era of Strategic Competition

In response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Alliance has taken a decisive step forward towards its core tasks, including deterrence and collective defence. This shift has only been reiterated in the 2022 NATO Strategic Concept and NATO Summits. Russia’s war has seen to it that NATO must become steadfast and resilient in the face of further escalation. As the Strategic Concept states: the ‘new Strategic Concept reaffirms that NATO’s key purpose is to ensure our collective defence, based on a 360-degree approach’. This approach increasingly includes strategic competition vis-à-vis authoritarian states such as China.

One consequence of this shifting geopolitical landscape is the need for Europeans to spend more on defence. This has been clear for some time. What is necessary today, however, is understanding how – concretely – European governments will take up the burden in NATO in line with the objectives set out in the Strategic Concept. In particular, the Concept calls for responsibilities and risks to the Alliance’s defence and security to be shared equitably, but in what realistic and specific ways can this be achieved?

To address these questions, the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) launched the “Transatlantic Defence in an Era of Strategic Competition” project (TIDE Project). The TIDE project ran from March to December 2023 and was supported by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Public Diplomacy Division. The TIDE Project brought together experts and stakeholders from across the transatlantic region through events. It focused on three key areas:

• Burden-sharing: What is the reality of burden-sharing today in NATO and is it sustainable from a US perspective over the medium (>2030) to long (+2030) term? In what ways are European allies taking up the burden and how has this pattern of burden-sharing evolved over the past decade? What are the defence industrial challenges associated with burden-sharing?
• Allied priorities: How is shifting US strategy towards the Indo-Pacific impacting how Europeans view burden-sharing in NATO? How can the US defence posture best be geared to meeting its objectives in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific? What more can European countries do with regard to reassurance measures on the Alliance’s eastern flank?
• Partners: How has the need for greater European responsibility spilled-over into EU-NATO cooperation? How is the debate about burden-sharing in the Alliance influencing policy in the EU with regard to defence investments and capability development? How has the war on Ukraine affected the nature and speed of European defence cooperation and ambition?

Deliverables

The TIDE project resulted in two major conferences in Brussels and Washington D.C.. Leading experts and practitioners were brought together. Here are the video recordings of each event.

A Steadfast and Resilient Alliance (CSDS, Brussels)

Defending the Euro-Atlantic Region (CSIS, Washington DC)

The “Transatlantic Defence in an Era of Strategic Competition” (TIDE Project) was supported by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.