April 07, 2019
From Truman to Trump, why Kansas City matters to NATO
Last week in Washington, D.C., representatives from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 29 member states marked the 70th anniversary of the transatlantic alliance. They celebrated the stability it has fostered and the shared democratic values so important to its membership. It was a time to reflect on NATO’s successes, but also its future and the new questions that animate debate on both sides of the Atlantic.
All this might seem quite removed from Kansas City and its environs, but to conclude so would be to ignore history. Winston Churchill gave his famous “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri, presaging the descent of the United States and Europe into Cold War. The Kansas City suburb of Independence was home to Harry Truman, and just a two-hour drive away is the birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower in Abilene, Kansas. These leaders understood the dangers facing the transatlantic democracies and the need to exercise allied leadership in their defense. NATO today stands among their greatest accomplishments.
We lead two Washington-based national security think tanks keenly interested in the discussion among Americans about their country’s foreign policy. Our institutions, the Center for a New American Security and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, have teamed up to get “outside the Beltway,” to talk, in this case, with Missourians about the broad questions attending America’s role in a rapidly changing world. This week we will hold a free public session, “NATO at 70,” Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Truman Library. We will also have private meetings with an array of local officials and others, including several visiting European officials.
We aim to speak, to discuss and to listen. The transatlantic alliance will be among the chief topics on which we hope to focus.
Read the full article in The Kansas City Star.
More from CNAS
-
European Security and Defense under Trump 2.0 with Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend
Podcast
Max and Donatienne are joined by Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend, hosts of the Brussels Sprouts podcast at the Center for a New American Security, to discuss the implic...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
NATO Public Forum: The Axis of Upheaval
Video
During the NATO Public Forum, CNAS hosted a panel discussion that featured David Shullman, senior director of Global China Hub for the Atlantic Council, Benedetta Berti, head ...
By David Shullman
-
A Discussion of European Leadership
Podcast
Leadership dynamics in Europe are at a critical juncture. Following the recent European Parliament elections, both French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf ...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Steven Erlanger & Sophie Pedder
-
Sharper: NATO 75
Commentary
From July 9–11, NATO leaders from across the Atlantic will gather in Washington, DC for the 2024 NATO Summit, which marks the 75th anniversary of the alliance. This meeting wi...
By Anna Pederson, Anna Avanesyan & Charles Horn
