Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 09/2014

NATO's 2014 Summit Agenda

Karl-Heinz Kamp

September 2013

NATO Defense College

Abstract

New developments in the international security landscape require constant adjustments to be made by the Alliance, and NATO summits between heads of state and government have three very important and occasionally historic events. They also allow NATO's political leadership to give forward-looking guidance to the Alliance's bureaucratic and military apparatus and to agree on particularly relevant issues. Lastly, summit meetings tend to speed up decision-making processes in NATO, since an imminent gathering of the "big chiefs" sets a deadline for compromise and consensus, both at headquarters and in capitals.