Marcin Zaborowski, the director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), has been nominated to be a member of the international expert policy group brought together by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh-Rasmussen. 

Director Zaborowski will serve as a member of this prestigious group of experts from NATO countries and is an outstanding achievement for both PISM and Poland as the group will be tasked with formulating responses to the most important challenges facing NATO. The conflict in Ukraine is undoubtedly one of them as are the Alliance’s relations with Russia. Director Zaborowski and the other experts focus on developing a joint Allied (U.S., Canadian and European) strategy for these conflicts and finding solutions to guarantee the U.S. military presence in Europe, especially in the Central and Eastern European NATO countries. 

The recommendations of the group could influence the debate on the future of NATO post-2014. They will provide food for thought for NATO policymakers ahead of the NATO Summit in Wales on 4-5 September of this year and the Alliance’s member state foreign ministers’ meeting. The policy expert group’s final report and findings will be submitted to the NATO Secretary General in early June 2014. The group’s task is of profound importance, especially in the context of the fundamental change in the perception of Euro-Atlantic security following the Russian annexation of Crimea.

The group, chaired by Dr. Robert Niblett, director of Chatham House in London, is composed of directors and members of the top Euro-Atlantic think tanks: Martin Butora, head of the Institute of Public Affairs, Bratislava; Ivo Daalder, president, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Chicago; Camille Grand, director of Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, Paris; Ana Palacio, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain and member of Consejo de Estado of Spain; Roland Paris, director of the Centre for International Policy Studies, Ottawa; Volker Perthes, director Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin; Nathalie Tocci, deputy director, Istituto Affari Internazionali, Rome; and Sinan Ulgen, director of the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM), Istanbul. 

Director Zaborowski’s work with the group will be supported by experts from PISM’s European Security and Defence Economics and Non-proliferation and Arms Control projects.