NATO’s Wales Summit: Expected Outcomes and Key Challenges

The Congressional Research Service, a department of the Library of Congress, conducts research and analysis for Congress on a broad range of national and international policy issues. Some of the CRS work is carried out specifically for individual members of Congress or their staff and is confidential. However, there is also much CRS compiled material which is considered public but is not formally published on the CRS website.

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Federation of American Scientists (FAS)

In some cases hyperlinks allows you to access all versions of a report, including the latest. Note that many reports are periodically updated.On 4-5 September 2014, the leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) 28 member states met in Wales for the alliance’s 2014 summit. This was their first meeting since Russia began providing large-scale military support to separatist forces fighting in Ukraine, and their last before the planned completion by the end of 2014 of NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, the longest and most ambitious operation in NATO history.

NATO leaders outlined three formal agenda items for the Wales summit:
(1) enhancing allied readiness and strengthening collective defense capabilities in response to Russian aggression;
(2) marking the planned withdrawal at the end of 2014 of the NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, and launching a non-combat security sector
training mission in the country;
(3) boosting NATO support for partner countries outside the
alliance, including through a new 'Defense Building Capacity Initiative'.

This report provides an overview of the summit’s main agenda items and expected outcomes, highlighting key challenges, U.S. policy priorities, and potential issues for Congress.

• Primary Source

Federation of American Scientists (FAS): Congressional Research Service [CRS] Reports https://fas.org/sgp/crs/index.html

EveryCRSReport.com https://www.everycrsreport.com/

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