NATO expansion past, present and future

Graduate Institute What Matters Today

Last week’s NATO summit in Vilnius achieved its primary goals which were to reach an agreement that Sweden could join the alliance, and to strengthen support for Ukraine. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed frustration that there was no clear path to membership. Joe Biden, in an interview with CNN on the eve of the summit said that Ukraine cannot join NATO while the country was at war. In addition, Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary, said that “whether we like it or not, people want to see a bit of gratitude”, when asked about Zelenskiy's frustration. All of this creates the impression that NATO is not entirely united. In this episode we will examine some of these points and discuss how expansion impacts NATO. Our guest today is Professor Jussi Hanhimäki who is Professor of International History and Politics, and Chair of the Department of International History and Politics here at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Intro Credits: DW News