“NATO: Obsolete Or Adapting?” With Ambassador Douglas E. Lute Former United States Permanent Represe

Twenty-five years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, NATO faces multiple, diverse security challenges. To the east lays newly aggressive Russia; to the south instability that breeds ISIS and causes mass migration; and internally challenges in some member states to the core values on which the Alliance is founded. Can this nearly 70-year-old institution keep pace with the changing security environment? How is NATO confronting these challenges? Is the Alliance capable of adapting, or will it fade into irrelevance? What can we expect going forward? As some NATO citizens increasing question the value of government and international institutions, can NATO — the world’s most successful and most durable alliance — once again prove its value?

Ambassador Douglas Lute is the former United States Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s standing political body. Since August 2017, he holds the Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair of Social Sciences at the United States Miltary Academy at West Point. In 2007 President Bush named him as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor to coordinate the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2009 he was the senior White House official retained by President Obama and his focus on the National Security Council staff shifted to South Asia. Before being assigned to the White House, General Lute served as Director of Operations (J3) on the Joint Staff, overseeing U.S. military operations worldwide. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a charter member of the Flag Officer Advisory Group of the United States Institute of Peace.

The lecture will be moderated by Dr. Thomas Gutschker. As a member of the political editorial department of Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, he writes mainly on foreign and security policy issues.

The event will be held in English. We look forward to an interesting and insightful evening and to welcoming you to this year’s Otto Wolff Lecture.

The Admission is free of charge!