By Sreeja Kodati, Eleanor Conrad, and Emmauel Figueroa
On Thursday, April 25th, 2024, European Studies welcomed Ivo H. Daalder, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and host of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ podcast, “World Review with Ivo Daalder,” to the University of Wisconsin-Maidson campus for his lecture, “Whither NATO – Can NATO Survive Another 75 Years?” Daalder first joined the Council as president in 2013 after serving as U.S. ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama. After 10 years as president of the Council, Daalder took on the new role of CEO in 2023.
With the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) marking its 75th anniversary in April, Daalder discussed the future of NATO and the potential global challenges on the horizon for the 32-member collective security pact. In his lecture and in during the Q&A with students, he spoke with frankness about the treaty’s precarious future considering uncertainties with Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the consequential role that the results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election may play for the long-term stability of the organization. Students had the opportunity to ask questions about Sweden’s and Finland’s relatively recent entry into the international military alliance, and what possible actions to anticipate from non-NATO allies in the coming years.
European Studies is honored to have had the opportunity to welcome the Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO to the UW-Madison campus. This insightful talk was made possible through the support from the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, the Jean Monnet European Union Center of Excellence for Populism and Political Economy, and the Department of Political Science.