How can we accurately predict future events?How do we persuade political leaders to look beyond the next couple of years? What lies ahead for NATO, in the coming years and in the distant future? In this episode, researcher and futurist Dr Florence Gaub walks us through her work as a strategic foresight advisor. As Director of the Research Division at the NATO Defense College in Rome, she leads a team that looks for “weak signals” of future events, helping ensure that NATO poli...

What is the difference between NATO members and partners? Why did Finland and Sweden set aside decades of neutrality and apply for NATO membership in 2022? What can Finland’s experience living next-door to Russia, and its 900,000-strong reserve forces, teach the rest of the Alliance? In this episode, Sauli Niinistö, who served as President of Finland from 2012 to 2024, talks about Finland’s experience of military non-alignment for more than seven decades, including almost 30 ye...

Why does NATO conduct missions outside of its territory? What were the different aims and lessons learned of NATO’s missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Afghanistan and Iraq? What is Canada’s role in a transatlantic alliance that is often framed as a balancing act between the United States and European Allies? In this episode, General Jennie Carignan, Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, walks us through her distinguished military career. She served on a demi...

What was it like learning about NATO while growing up in the former Yugoslavia? Why did NATO launch “out-of-area” operations in the Western Balkans following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s? What was the road to NATO membership like for Albania and Croatia, and how did these countries help pave the way for other countries in the region to join the Alliance? In this episode, former President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović reflects on her country’s journey to independ...

How is Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty triggered, and what happens once it’s activated? How did the 9/11 terrorist attacks impact both the United States and its NATO Allies, and why did NATO respond the way it did? What was the significance of NATO’s operations in Afghanistan and how did they change the Alliance? In this episode, former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson of Port Ellen shares his memories of 11 September 2001, and the historic months and years that fol...

Why did the Baltic States and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe choose to join NATO after the end of the Cold War?Why was the 2004 enlargement of NATO known as the “Big Bang” enlargement?How do NATO’s smaller member countries contribute to the Alliance? In this episode, former President of Latvia Dr Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga shares her extraordinary life story – from fleeing Latvia as a child at the end of the Second World War, to building a life in Canada for 50 years, to becomin...

Why did NATO open its door to former Warsaw Pact adversaries after the end of the Cold War? What was the process for Czechia, Hungary and Poland to join the Alliance? How has NATO changed in the 25 years since this historic enlargement? In this episode, former Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi and former Czech Ambassador to NATO Karel Kovanda share their perspectives on this transformative era in NATO history. They reflect on their youths, growing up under communism in ...

Why is NATO important for the United States?Are we in a more dangerous nuclear situation than we were during the Cold War?What is the credible path back to peace in Europe?What was the significance of serving as the first woman and only second American Deputy Secretary General of NATO? In this episode, Rose Gottemoeller reflects on her time as NATO Deputy Secretary General during a pivotal time for the Alliance. She discusses her previous experience working on arms control policy in the ...

How do the political and military sides of NATO work together?What lessons are NATO militaries learning from Russia’s war against Ukraine? How does an alliance of 32 countries combine their armed forces into one integrated military force – and how would this change in the event of war? In this episode, Lieutenant General Hans-Werner Wiermann, who served as Director General of NATO's International Military Staff from 2019 until 2022, explains how NATO’s command structure unites diver...

What are the main responsibilities of the NATO Secretary General?How and why did Jens Stoltenberg become the head of the Organization?How has NATO changed over the past decade, and what does its future look like? In this episode, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reflects on his time at NATO over the past 10 years. He shares the personal motivations that led him to accept the job after serving as Prime Minister of Norway, and how his parents' values and his own political activity as a y...

Welcome to the NATO Through Time podcast!This podcast dives deep into NATO’s history, reflecting on how the past influences the present – and future – of the longest-lasting alliance in history.Our first episode introduces the podcast’s co-hosts: former NATO Spokesperson Jamie Shea, along with young content creators Ben Wheeler, Maciej Musiał and Paulius Mikolaitis, who are helping tell NATO’s story to the next generation.Join them in this initial episode on a 15-minute whirlwind tour of NATO...