Publication

To the mark the final overseas political tour of his office, US Secretary of Defense Robert M Gates addressed a distinguished gathering at the Security & Defence Agenda (SDA) in Brussels in June 2011. Gates used the opportunity to "speak bluntly" about how he sees the military shortcomings of European members of NATO; and to issue a warning that the economic crisis and a changing political make-up in US domestic politics could foreshadow a diminishing investment in the transatlantic alliance.