Atlantic Council

The Strategic Advisors Group is a standing body of roughly 40 senior experts on NATO and transatlantic security issues from across North America and Europe that provides timely, relevant insights and analysis to policymakers and the public on strategic issues in transatlantic security relationship.

Founded in 2007 by then-Atlantic Council Chairman General James L. Jones, Brent Scowcroft, and former Norwegian Minister of Defense Kristin Krohn Devold, the SAG has established itself as the pre-eminent institution for strategic thinking and analysis on Euro-Atlantic security through its thought leadership on critical issues such as Afghanistan/Pakistan, the NATO Strategic Concept, and the topic of NATO reform. Currently co-chaired by Atlantic Council Chairman Chuck Hagel and Airbus CEO Tom Enders, the SAG produces major public policy briefs and reports, hosts off-the-record Strategy Sessions for senior U.S. and European civilian and military officials, and provides informal, expert advice to senior policymakers.

The SAG established its reputation for expertise and its ‘over the horizon’ outlook by publishing an important issue brief in 2007 entitled ‘Saving Afghanistan: An Appeal and Plan for Urgent Action.’ The brief warned of the risks of failure in Afghanistan at a time when the security discourse focused more on the challenges of Iraq. Written by then-SAG Chairman General Jones, the brief played a major role in shaping the public and private debate in Washington over the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan through its blunt, but comprehensive analysis and findings. The report was released at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the presence of Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry. SAG Chairman General Jones later testified before that Committee on its findings. The SAG then visited NATO Headquarters, SHAPE, and the EU Headquarters to brief Europe’s leadership on the report’s conclusions.

In 2008, the SAG focused its efforts on the topic of NATO reform, teaming up with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the National Defense University, and John’s Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies to produce a report entitled ‘Alliance Reborn: An Atlantic Compact for the 21st Century.’ This effort outlined ways in which Allies should reinvigorate NATO, including improving decision making, enhancing capabilities, and tackling major challenges to ensure NATO’s relevance for new and emerging threats.

The ‘Alliance Reborn’ report served as a prelude for the SAG’s ‘STRATCON 2010’ project, which seeks to shape the debate concerning NATO’s development of a new Strategic Concept. Led by SAG members Yves Boyer and Julian Lindley-French, the project will influence the Strategic Concept development process from both inside and outside the formal process. SAG members will be in attendance at NATO’s five official reflection conferences on the future of the Strategic Concept, and the Atlantic Council will serve as a partner host for the fourth official NATO seminar on the topic of NATO capabilities in February 2010. The SAG will also provide members of NATO’s Group of Experts with policy briefs on issues most critical to the success of the Strategic Concept. In 2010, the SAG will produce an important ‘STRATCON 2010 Report’ that will provide an outline for what the official NATO Strategic Concept should address when it is unveiled at the Lisbon Summit in the fall of 2010.

The SAG and its activities are generously sponsored by the Scowcroft Group and EADS North America.

More on the SAG's activities is available here.

Leadership:

	Chuck Hagel, Chairman Atlantic Council
	Thomas Enders, European SAG Co-Chairman President and CEO, Airbus S.A.S.
	Frederick Kempe, President and CEO Atlantic Council
	General Brent Scowcroft, Chairman, Atlantic Council International Advisory Board Former National Security Advisor to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush President and Founder, The Scowcroft Group
	Damon Wilson, Program Director, International Security Program, and Vice President, Atlantic Council

Members:

Rafael L. Bardají, Strategic Studies Group

Robert Bell, Former NATO Assistant Secretary General SAIC

Hans Binnendijk, CTNSP

Sven Biscop, The Royal Institute for International Relations

Charles Boyd, Former Deputy Commander, USEUCOM; President, Business Executives for National Security

Yves Boyer, Société Française d’Etudes Militaires

Ian Brzezinski, Booz Allen Hamilton

Edgar Buckley, Former NATO Assistant Secretary General; Senior Vice President, Thales

Richard Burt, Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany; Senior Advisor, Kissinger-McLarty Associates

Ralph Crosby, President, EADS North America

Brian Dailey, Senior Vice President Lockheed Martin

Chris Donnelly, UK Defence Academy Senior Fellow

Conrado Dornier, Dornier Aircraft

Mike Durkee, Former Special Advisor to SACEUR

Julian-Lindley French, Royal Military Academy of the Netherlands

Paul Gebhard, The Cohen Group

Ashraf Ghani, Former Afghan Finance Minister; Chairman, Institute for State Effectiveness

Edmund Giambastiani, Former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Sebestyén L. Gorka, Institute for Transitional Democracy and International Security

Marc Grossman, Former Undersecretary of State; The Cohen Group

Robert Hunter, Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO; RAND Corp.

Robert Hutchings, Woodrow Wilson School

Josef Janning, Bertelsmann Stiftung

Karl Heinz Kamp, NATO Defense College

Arnold Kanter, Former Under Secretary of State; The Scowcroft Group

Frank Kramer, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense

Harald Kujat, Former Chairman of NATO Military Committee

Fabrizio W. Luciolli, Atlantic Council of Italy

Alexander Mirtchev, President, Krull Corporation

Boyko Noev, Former Bulgarian Minister of Defense; Center for the Study of Democracy

Ioan Mircea Pascu, Former Romanian Minister of Defense; Member of the European Parliament

Jean-Paul Perruche, Former Director-General, EU Military Staff

Thomas R. Pickering, Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN; Vice Chairman, Hills & Company

Norman Ray, Former NATO Assistant Secretary General; The Spectrum Group

Tomas Ries, Swedish Institute for International Relations

Walt Slocombe, Former Under Secretary of Defense; Caplin & Drysdale

Harlan K. Ullman, The Atlantic Council of the United States

Kurt Volker, Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO

Rob de Wijk, Hague Centre for Strategic Studies