On April 3, the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding hosted former NATO deputy secretary general and Department of State arms control diplomat Rose Gottemoeller for an event titled “NATO in the New World Order,” during which she stressed the importance of international cooperation.
Gottemoeller spoke about American security cooperation with allies in Europe and Asia, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the future of international arms control.
In an interview after the event, Gottemoeller said the Trump administration’s withdrawal of support from Ukraine is creating a “crisis of confidence” among the United States’s European allies.
“This will be a trend in the U.S. body politic, that even if a Democrat is elected in the next four years, this will be a trend that is a part of their future with working in the United States,” Gottemoeller said.
Approximately 80 people attended the event in the Haldeman Center, while 225 people live streamed the event on YouTube, according to Dickey Center communications manager Lars Blackmore.
During the event, which was moderated by Dickey Center director Victoria Holt, Gottemoeller said there is “confusion” among the United States’ allies about whether American defensive military support is pivoting from Europe to Asia. According to Gottemoeller, a copy of interim national security policy issued by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth states that the United States’s “pacing threat” is now China, while Europe is “responsible for [its] own conventional defense” from Russia.
“[The Europeans] feel like the United States is upping sticks and moving to the Indo-Pacific, including force structure, including equipment, including key enablers like U.S. intelligence support to NATO allies,” Gottemoeller said. “[But] where are they going to deploy the stuff? We don’t want it on Australian soil.”
While Gottemoeller said she believes redeveloping “defense industrial capacity” in Europe is important, she also said the United States should not leave military planning to the European Union.
“[The EU should] not repeat what NATO is doing,” Gottemoeller said. “It’s a waste of time. It’s a waste of money. The two organizations should work together without tripping over each other.”
During the event, Holt asked Gottemoeller which international treaties and conventions she believes are the most “valuable,” referencing the possibility that the Trump administration will withdraw from international participation.
Gottemoeller — who also negotiated the 2009 New START nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia, which expires in 2026 — responded that she believes it is important for the United Nations to “survive” as an “international institution” and for nuclear agreements to stay “on the table.”
“My hunch about this is, watch out for treaties and agreements [where] the substantive area has already been targeted, like … the International Labor Organization,” Gottemoeller said.
Benjamin Joel ’27, who attended the event, said Gottemoeller brought a “level of nuance” that is not often heard in “public discussions.”
“What I enjoyed most was hearing from Dartmouth students at the end of the event,” Joel said. “Their questions were sharp and thoughtful, and it was great to see them engage so directly with someone of Gottemoeller’s experience.”
During the event, attendee Sophia Calkins ’28 and Gottemoeller exchanged a volley of questions about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Calkins said she also spoke with Gottemoeller about the conflict after the event.
“[Gottemoeller] seems to think that both Ukraine and Russia may have to accept some form of partial victory or defeat,” Calkins said. “She also warned that one of the biggest risks now is that Trump may lose interest in the situation if Putin doesn’t meet his demands.”
At one point during the event, the overhead lights suddenly turned off.
“The Russians killed the power!” Gottemoeller joked.
Jackson Hyde '28 is an intended philosophy major from Los Angeles, California. His interests include photography, meditation, and board game design.
