It is with a sense of deep personal loss that the staff of the Security & Defence Agenda, together with its network of related partners, wish to mark the death of Peter R. Weilemann, head of the European Office in Brussels of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS).

Peter died in Bonn, his hometown, on December 9 after a short illness. He will be sadly mourned by his wide circle of friends and collaborators.

"For almost 20 years Peter Weilemann has been a rock solid friend and partner in a succession of projects and debates on Europe's future," said Giles Merritt, Director of the Security & Defence Agenda. "He has been a prominent figure on the EU scene for most of the last decade, and his sudden and very premature death will be felt by many far beyond Brussels and Germany."

Under Peter Weilemann's leadership the profile of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Brussels has grown higher than ever, with a succession of political stars from Germany's centre-right being drawn into the EU debate. "As well as being enormously knowledgeable on so many topics and issues," added Merritt, "he had the gift of being warm and generous in both his personal and professional relationships".

On the 27th of October, the SDA hosted a roundtable discussion on the future of NATO and the transatlantic relationship. Introducing the debate, Dr. Thomas Wright of the Chicago Council for Global Affairs said that NATO needs to reposition itself to better engage with new actors as the geopolitical centre of gravity continues to shift to Asia and the Pacific. He also stressed the alliance’s political role in ensuring multilateralism’s advance in an increasingly multipolar world. 

Acknowledging the constrained financial circumstances facing the Alliance, Romanian Ambassador to NATO, Dumitru Sorin Ducaru, explained how increased cost-efficiency in an era of austerity would in no way mean watering down of the alliance’s ambition and said that this must be clearly communicated to the public. 

Discussing the challenges of Afghanistan, Dr. John Nagl of the Centre for a New American Security (CNAS) stated that that Aghanistan is a test of NATO’s ability and willingness to deal with irregular warfare. NATO cannot choose the wars that it is going to have to fight, but its enemies will choose and they will increasingly opt for “asymmetric protracted conflict,” he explained.