PRELIMINARY AGENDA

On Invitation-only

Türkiye hosts a NATO Summit for the second time, following the 2004 Istanbul Summit. Back in 2004, the Alliance admitted seven new members. Has this year’s Summit continued to make NATO „a stronger, fairer and more lethal Alliance, ready to respond to the critical challenges to our security,” as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said announcing the Summit? How have the 32 NATO member states lived up to the commitment of the Hague Summit in 2025, to raise their defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 and to boost their defense industries? How is the US administration’s new approach toward the allies playing out, and what are the consequences of the American administration’s 2025 National Defense Security document for the Alliance? What is  the Alliance’s thinking regarding the situation in Ukraine, regarding Russia’s ongoing hybrid warfare against Europe, the impact of the US and Israeli military actions in Iran, as well as Iranian response to these, and to China advancing a Sino-centric world? Do these tensions add up to a “prefect storm,” leading towards a World War Three, and what is the Alliance thinking about taming, and ultimately quenching, the potential global storm?  

With a sudden twist in its history, Europe finds itself under double strategic pressures, one from the East (Russia), and one from the West (the USA). While the US is into a quick win trying to get rid of the burden of the Allies, Russia is playing the long game in working on exhausting the European strategic will. There are many signs of an unconventional war going on in European territory: While challenging Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) is an integral part of Russian military doctrine, Europe's vulnerability to this — driven by a lack of strategy and investment — is deeply concerning. What needs to be done for Europe to be able to emerge as a new international actor? Is the 5% defense spending leading Europe to become a strategic player with a defense identity in its own right or is it more a promise to appease Washington while hoping to contain Russia? Do these multiple pressures help Europe to prepare to defend itself in a next war against the continent, or do they weaken Europe to the extreme of abandoning the European construction? Will the double pressures be contributing to turning Europe into a strategic actor, capable of cooperating with partner mid-size powers, or will they be ultimately resulting in the end of Europe as we know it?

Initially a response to global warming, the energy transition has also become a key tool for reducing fossil fuel dependence following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. However, the energy trilemma — balancing reliability, affordability, and sustainability — is now under intense pressure from the Ukraine war, China’s rare-earth monopoly, and the impact of Iranian instability on global markets. In addition, climate change acts as a strategic “threat multiplier” turning environmental targets into urgent security imperatives. As Europe de-risks from Russian hydrocarbons, navigates Chinese monopolies in critical minerals, and redefines its complex energy partnership with a shifting United States, the green transition is no longer just a policy goal, but a survival strategy for strategic autonomy. How can Europe turn the necessity of a low-carbon transition into a shield against geopolitical volatility? Can Europe achieve climate neutrality without creating new, lethal dependencies on authoritarian regimes for the raw materials of the future, at a time of major global upheaval in the energy sector?

In an era of vulnerability from supply chain disruptions, price volatility and political leverage, the role of nuclear energy is becoming strategic in multiple ways. Our panel intends to cover the most strategic aspects of nuclear energy policy: the role and responsibility of the IAEA, as well as of independent national authorities in shaping and ensuring nuclear energy, the potential and the challenges of small modular reactors, as well as the impact and the risks of artificial intelligence in the nuclear sector. How can a regulatory authority  ensure a high level of confidence for the  new SMR technologies and how can effective regulatory oversight of SMR-related activities be maintained throughout the entire lifecycle? While AI undoubtedly brings a wealth of potential for incerasing efficiency, can, and if so how can, AI be trusted in such a sensitive technology? What can innovation and industry offer to the complexity of challenges and the reality of energy needs? 

With the fourth year of Russia’s war against Ukraine and without an end in sight, Russia’s long term strategy has shifted to exhausting the West from supporting Ukraine. Can Ukraine win this war, or should Europe be prepared for continuously being challenged by Russia? Is winning a conventional war the same as winning a hybrid war? What guidance to get from the new US foreign policy document for long term relations with Europe? How does the surprise attack of the US against Venezuela’s leader impact on rogue actors across the world? What impact does the 2026 war in Iran have on Russia and China? How does the AI-disruption in the technological field changes and accelerates warfare? Do these simultaneous multiple crises add up to making an era of the poli-crisis of the entire system of international politics - potentially developing into a “Perfect Storm”? And if so, what strategies can be developed to manage, tame, calm or quench the storm?