From Binyamin Applebaum, the New York Times:  Ronald D. Asmus, an early proponent of expanding the Atlantic alliance to include Eastern European nations and a key figure in the Clinton administration’s realization of that vision, died Saturday in Belgium.

From the Economist:  Next week’s NATO summit in Lisbon is likely to be one of the most crucial in the 61-year history of the military alliance.

From Katrin Bennhold, the New York Times:  When NATO unveils its new doctrine later this month, it will include a revamped nuclear policy, a section on cyberwar and fresh thinking on how to engage Russia.

From Valentina Pop, the EUobserver:  Developing a Nato cyber-war capability and French opposition to joint nuclear planning are emerging as the main bones of contention in the debate on a new Nato "Strategic Concept," to be adopted next month.

From the Portugal News:  Draft recommendations for a new strategic concept for NATO do not pay sufficient attention to the South Atlantic, says Portugal’s defence minister, promising to raise the issue with alliance leaders.

From Kori Schake, Center for European Policy Analysis:  Of the NATO allies, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Poland and Sweden advocate alliance nuclear reductions.

From James Joyner, the National Interest:  As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization completes its new Strategic Concept, it should be resist expanding its guarantee of automatic response to include cyber and other unconventional attacks.

On July 2-4, at the High-Level Democracy Meeting (HLDM) celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Community of Democracies (CoD) in Krakow, the Atlantic Council brought together 80 emerging young diplomats and activists from around the world for the Young Diplomats for Democracy (YDD) symposium.