EVENTS IN THIS CENTURY HAVE TAUGHT US THAT WE CANNOT ACHIEVE PEACE INDEPENDENTLY. THE WORLD HAS GROWN TOO SMALL. THE OCEANS TO OUR EAST AND WEST NO LONGER PROTECT US FROM THE REACH OF BRUTALITY AND AGGRESSION. IF WE ARE TO ACHIEVE PEACE WE MUST WORK FOR PEACE.
THE ALLIANCE’S VISIONARY PAST AND THE FUTURE OF TRANSATLANTIC COOPERATION
Thursday, July 11, 2024
National Archives Washington, D.C.
WELCOME
CLIFTON TRUMAN DANIEL
Honorary Chairman, Truman Library Institute
SPECIAL REMARKS
ADMIRAL ROB BAUER
33rd Chair of the Military Committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
GENERAL CHARLES Q. BROWN, JR.
21st Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
INTRODUCTION OF PANEL
RICHARD FONTAINE
Chief Executive Officer, Center for a New American Security
PANEL
STEVEN ERLANGER, Moderator
ADAM HOWARD
MARY ELISE SAROTTE
STEPHEN WERTHEIM
CLOSING REMARKS
ALEX BURDEN
Executive Director, Truman Library Institute
Admiral Rob Bauer (Royal Netherlands Navy) is the 33rd Chair of the Military Committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). As the Military Adviser to the Secretary General and the North Atlantic Council, Admiral Bauer is NATO’s most senior military officer. He is the conduit through which advice from NATO’s Allied Chiefs of Defence is presented to the political decision-making bodies; and guidance and directives are issued to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation and the Director General of the International Military Staff.
‘Expect the unexpected’ is for Admiral Bauer a personal mantra, as well as a sacred principle for every military force. In this time of political power shifts and increasingly complex security threats, he firmly believes that the strength of the North Atlantic Alliance lies in its cohesion. Admiral Bauer strives to be a catalyst between NATO’s military leaders, and unifying north, south, east and west, large and small.
Admiral Bauer was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1984. From 2005 until 2007, he commanded the Air Defence and Command Frigate HNLMS De Ruyter. His command included a deployment in the Mediterranean with the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 as part of the NATO Response Force (Operation Active Endeavour). Late 2006, Bauer was deployed to Bahrain as Deputy Commander of Task Force 150 (Operation Enduring Freedom). In 2010 and 2011, he held command of the Landing Platform Dock HNLMS Johan de Witt
As Director of Plans (2012-2015), Bauer was responsible for directing strategies relating to the future of Defence, operational policy and innovation, and the organization and structure of the armed forces as a whole, including the creation of the new Defence Cyber Command. As Vice Chief of Defence (2015-2017), Bauer oversaw the move towards more flexible and sustainable cooperation with private companies and organizations.
As Chief of Defence (2017-2021), he commanded the Netherlands Armed Forces during the first four years of substantial investments after a decades-long period of cutbacks. Transforming the organization required determination, strategic foresight and the ability to rebuild trust in and amongst the Armed Forces.
Rob is married to Maaike. They have three children.
General Charles Q. Brown, Jr. is the 21st Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, and the principal military advisor to the President, Secretary of Defense, and National Security Council. Prior to becoming Chairman on October 1, 2023, General Brown served as the 22nd Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force.
A native of San Antonio, Texas, General Brown earned his commission in 1984 as a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program at Texas Tech University.
General Brown has served in a variety of positions at the squadron and wing levels, including an assignment to the U.S. Air Force Weapons School as an F-16 Fighting Falcon Instructor. His notable staff tours include Aidede-Camp to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Director of the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff Executive Action Group. His joint assignments include three assignments to U.S. Central Command as Air Operations Officer, Current Operations Division; Deputy Director, Operations Directorate; and Deputy Commander.
General Brown has commanded a fighter squadron, the U.S. Air Force Weapons School, two fighter wings, and twice served as a Combined/Joint Air Component Commander with command tours at U.S. Air Forces Central Command and Pacific Air Forces.
General Brown is a command pilot with more than 3,000 flight hours primarily in the F-16, including 130 combat hours, and has flown 20 additional fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. Throughout his career, he deployed or directly supported Operation Southern Watch, Operation Northern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Odyssey Dawn, Operation Unified Protector, and Operation Inherent Resolve.
In addition to his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Texas Tech University, General Brown has a master’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School, a distinguished graduate from Air Command and Staff College, a graduate of the Air War College, and served as a National Defense Fellow at the Institute for Defense Analyses.
General Brown and his spouse, Mrs. Sharene Brown, have been married for more than 34 years, and have two sons.
Steven Erlanger is the chief diplomatic correspondent for Europe for The New York Times , based in Berlin. In more than 40 years as a journalist, he has reported from more than 120 countries, from the war in Kosovo to Brexit. Previously the bureau chief in Brussels, London, Paris, Jerusalem, Berlin, Prague, Belgrade, Moscow, and Bangkok, he currently covers NATO, American foreign policy, Russia, and the war in Ukraine. Among other awards, he has shared in two Pulitzer Prizes—for Al Qaeda (2002) and for Russia (2017).
Adam Howard is the Historian for the U.S. Department of State and responsible for the publication of the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series, the official documentary history of U.S. foreign relations, and the preparation of historical studies on U.S. foreign affairs and institutional history for use by policymakers. He is the author of Sewing the Fabric of Statehood: Garment Unions, American Labor, and the Establishment of the State of Israel
Mary Elise Sarotte is the inaugural holder of the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Distinguished Professorship of Historical Studies at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., and a research associate at Harvard University’s Center for European Studies. Sarotte is the author or editor of six books, including Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate, which was selected as a Best Book of 2021 by Foreign Affairs.
Stephen Wertheim is a Senior Fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a Visiting Lecturer at Princeton University. He specializes in U.S. foreign relations and international order from the late 19th century to the present. He is the author of Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of U.S. Global Supremacy, and his essays have appeared in Foreign Affairs , Foreign Policy, The Guardian, The Nation, The New York Times , The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and elsewhere.
Alex Burden is the Executive Director of the Truman Library Institute. Under his leadership, the Institute has provided transformational support to its public partner, the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, including raising more than $55 million for the largest museum renovation since the Library’s doors opened in 1957. Burden also led the Truman Statue Campaign to fund, create and install bronze statues of President Truman in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and at the U.S. Mission to NATO in Belgium.
Clifton Truman Daniel is the eldest grandson of President Harry S. Truman and First Lady Bess Wallace Truman. Daniel serves as honorary board chair of the Truman Library Institute, board secretary of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, and vice president of the Society of Presidential Descendants. His books include Growing Up with My Grandfather: Memories of Harry S. Truman. In addition to portraying his grandfather in the one-man stage show, Give ‘Em Hell Harry, Daniel writes and lectures on the Truman presidency.
Richard Fontaine is the chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where he served as president (201219) and senior fellow (2009-12). Prior to CNAS, he was foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain and worked at the State Department, the National Security Council, and on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Fontaine served as foreign policy advisor to the McCain 2008 presidential campaign and subsequently as the minority deputy staff director on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Want to hear the discussion again? Or maybe you’re hungry for more small bites on transatlantic security, NATO, the EU, Russia, and all things Europe?
Tune into the weekly Brussels Sprouts podcast hosted by Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend at the Center for a New American Security.
In his first major act after his unlikely reelection, President Truman directed Secretary of State Dean Acheson and the State Department to pursue negotiations for a transatlantic alliance.
JULY 21, 1949
President Truman recognized the importance of bipartisan governance, using his friendship with key Republicans in the U.S. Senate to build support for the alliance. Through these bipartisan efforts, the Senate ratified the treaty by a vote of 83-13.
4, 1949
In Washington, D.C., twelve countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty. Upon signing the United States into its first military peacetime alliance and the most significant result of his foreign policy strategy, President Truman said, “We hope to create a shield against aggression and the fear of aggression.”
Following up his signature with action, President Truman signed the Mutual Defense Assistance Program, appropriating $1.4 billion to build Western European defenses.
JULY 25, 1949
Truman and Acheson signed the Instrument of Accession, making the United States a founding member. President Truman considered it his proudest achievement.
“Address on the Occasion of the Signing of the North Atlantic Treaty,” April 4, 1949; read the historic speech at TrumanLibrary.gov.
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit organization that develops strong, pragmatic, and principled national security and defense policies. CNAS engages policymakers, experts, and the public with innovative, fact-based research, ideas, and analysis to shape and elevate the national security debate. CNAS is located in Washington and was established in 2007 by co-founders Dr. Kurt M. Campbell and Michèle A. Flournoy. Since the Center’s founding, our work has informed key U.S. strategic choices and has been acted on by Republican and Democratic leaders in the executive branch and on Capitol Hill.
Learn more and follow at CNAS.org
The Truman Library Institute is the member-supported, nonprofit partner of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, one of 15 presidential libraries of the National Archives. Together with its federal partner, the Truman Library Institute draws on President Truman’s legacy to enrich the public understanding of history, the presidency and America’s unique form of government. This mission is achieved through world-class museum exhibits, research grants, public programming and nationally acclaimed education programs serving tens of thousands of students and teachers annually. The Institute is guided by the founding vision of President Truman, who worked to ensure that his presidential library would flourish as a “classroom for democracy,” where young people, especially, might better understand the American presidency and the fundamental principles governing our democracy, while being inspired to lead lives of service and purpose.
Learn more and follow at TrumanLibraryInstitute.org
THE SECURITY AND THE WELFARE OF EACH MEMBER OF THIS COMMUNITY DEPENDS UPON THE SECURITY AND THE WELFARE OF ALL. NONE OF US ALONE CAN ASSURE THE CONTINUANCE OF FREEDOM.
