NATO Summit Behind the Scenes Podcast

With the summit in the rear-view mirror (and summer on the horizon!), Bruce and Mariana wrap up the podcast series by testing their knowledge of the key decisions that NATO Leaders took at the summit. They also share their favourite anecdotes from behind the scenes of Behind the Scenes, reminisce about funny and inspiring moments from the previous episodes, and we finally discover whether they actually know all 79 points of the Brussels Summit Communiqué by heart (spoiler: they don’t)...

In this episode, Bruce and Mariana speak to Güldener Sonumut, a Turkish journalist who has covered Summits for over 20 years. He gives insights into how he decides what questions to ask and explains the process from preparing for a summit to publishing a finished article. We get a look at what it is like to be among the hundreds of journalists who attend summits and find out why it is important to ask all the questions...

In this episode, Bruce and Mariana speak to those who are on the right track to become NATO-experts in the future – the interns and the temps. Together, they reminisce about their own intern experiences, the path towards becoming a temp (someone with a temporary contract) and their volunteer experience at the Summit...

In this episode, Bruce and Mariana speak to Benedetta Berti, the head of the Policy Planning Unit and a NATO 2030 expert. Benedetta walks us through the NATO 2030 agenda that was endorsed by the leaders at the Summit and explains NATO’s actions to fight climate change. Bruce and Mariana share their Summit memories, including a personal encounter with President Biden, and take a look at the decision-making processes in the North Atlantic Council...

A facility manager, a security officer, an interpreter and a technician walk into a NATO summit – and the punchline is that you never notice how much work they put in, only the flawless flow of this major event! In this episode, Bruce and Mariana talk with a variety of people who keep things running smoothly behind the scenes. We learn what’s on the menu for NATO Leaders, how NATO security staff imagine all sorts of wild scenarios and how they make sure that everyone is safe...

In this episode, Bruce and Mariana talk with Paulina Brunn and Veronika Datzer, who both study International Relations at Freie Universität Berlin. They were on the winning team of NATO’s first Policy Hackathon, which brought together over eighty students from ten universities across the Alliance in a ten-day competition as part of the “New Ideas for NATO 2030” online event...

In this episode, Bruce and Mariana speak to Tania Lațici, a policy analyst at the European Parliamentary Research Service (the in-house think tank of the European Parliament) and a NATO 2030 Young Leader. The NATO 2030 Young Leaders are a diverse group of young professionals aged 25-35 from across the Alliance. They were appointed by the Secretary General to inform his recommendations to NATO Leaders at the 2021 Brussels Summit...

On this episode, Bruce and Mariana speak to Dylan White. Dylan is a Press Officer and occasionally steps in as NATO’s Acting Spokesperson, speaking on the record for the Alliance. We find out how NATO’s press office works with hundreds of journalists from dozens of countries attending a summit, and what it feels like to speak for 30 NATO member nations...

On this episode, Bruce and Mariana speak to Steve Derden, who works on protocol and events at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. Steve has worked at NATO for more than nine years and has been involved in the past five summits. 
He answers all our questions and explains when summit planning starts, what happens on the actual day and how he makes sure that the show runs smoothly...

Welcome to “NATO Summit Behind the Scenes”, the show where we pull back the curtain and explore all the backstage machinery that goes into a NATO summit. 
In each episode, your hosts Bruce and Mariana will speak to guests from inside and outside of NATO about all the work they do surrounding a NATO summit...