Last week at the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service, the Center for Security Studies and the SSP Student Council hosted over 80 students, faculty, and researchers at our event, “Crosswinds from the Eastern Flank: Assessing the Trump Administration’s Commitment to NATO.”

I had a great time delivering the opening remarks and introducing our keynote speaker, the Ambassador of Romania to the United States, Andrei Muraru. On behalf of the organizers, I would like to thank our stellar lineup of speakers—senior fellows from the Atlantic Council, the Stimson Center, CEPA, and the Hudson Institute. This expert panel was skillfully moderated by Dr. Sara Moller, professor of international security studies.

▶️Irrespective of the ideology of the Washington administration, the states on NATO’s eastern flank have practiced a consistent policy towards the U.S.: to the “jump”, they have always answered with “how high?”. This policy has been instrumental in aligning these states in the U.S. camp in the strategic competition with China in the first Trump administration, but also in making political elites hasten the process of raising military spending. Now that the American security umbrella seems a guarantee that can no longer be relied on, it remains to be seen whether these states will decide to become norm entrepreneurs for a more militarily relevant and integrated EU or prioritize bilateral negotiations with the U.S., thus embracing the new transactional approach even at the cost of splitting transatlantic solidarity.