Over the three days, foreign and defense policy experts from around the world will discuss how we can move forward while standing up for our values ​​and security.

"The world is becoming more chaotic, there is war in Europe and in the Middle East, and tensions are rising in the Indo-Pacific. Amid constant crises, it can be easy to feel helpless, and difficult to find new ways to protect our societies, rules, and values. Nevertheless, we can be inspired by the words of then Senator John F. Kennedy – Let us not despair, but act," the conference organizers said.

"This year we want to take stock of what has been done since Russia's full-scale invasion and consider how to move forward in a way that makes us all stronger and more secure. Following Russia's brutal aggression, liberal democracies quickly recognized the need for new and broader thinking about security and defense. 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of NATO. The Washington Summit will offer a perfect opportunity for Allies to recommit to their shared values and trans-Atlanticism, to properly resource collective defense and to demonstrate readiness to address new challenges."

The list of speakers can be viewed here and the conference agenda here.

Thursday, May 16

5.00 p.m. – 5.05 p.m. Welcome note: Indrek Kannik, Director of the ICDS

5.05 p.m. – 6.30 p.m. Opening Panel: Brave New World – Building a Stronger Europe

Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine has turned the EU into a geopolitical actor. The Union has taken a very clear stance in its foreign policy, adopting the toughest sanctions and export controls in its history, and providing aid in multiple forms, including military aid. For the first time since the end of the Cold War, Europe has started to take defense spending seriously. The new defense plans that NATO adopted in Vilnius need to be filled with capabilities that the Alliance still needs to acquire. Have we done enough? How can we build a Europe that is able to defend itself from external shocks, both economically and militarily?

Michal Baranowski, Managing Director of the German Marshall Fund East

Gudni Th. Johannesson, President of Iceland 

Vera Jourova, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency

Alar Karis, President of Estonia,

Moderator: Henry Foy, Financial Times

Friday, May 17

10.00 a.m. – 11.30 a.m. Panel Discussion: Competition of Narratives and the Impact on Global Relations

Climate change, wars, inflation, pandemic: in recent years, the world has been confronted with more and more threatening crises. Where the West sees a crisis, Russia and China thrive as they see an opportunity to sell an alternative narrative. The West sometimes has a hard time communicating its messages globally due to its own chequered past. How can we move past the history and work together?

Dubai Abulhoul Alfalasi, Chief Executive Officer at Fiker Institute

Tobias Lindner, Minister of State at the German Federal Foreign Office

Charlotta Rodhe, Deputy Director of the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies

Jeremiah Sam, Executive Director of Penplusbytes

Moderator: Steve Erlanger, Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for Europe at The New York Times

12.00 p.m. – 13.30 p.m. Panel Discussion: The Next Conflict on the Horizon: Tensions in the Indo-Pacific

Intelligence reports state that China's President Xi Jinping has instructed his country's military to be ready by 2027 to invade Taiwan. At the same time, tensions remain high over territorial claims in the South China Sea. The already tense geopolitical situation is made worse by the North Korean leader's aggressive rhetoric combined with frequent missile tests that are helped along by technological cooperation with Russia and Iran. The risk of escalation is high. Is war inevitable? What can be done to reduce risks? Does the recent slight thaw in US-China relations offer hope of a de-escalation? What lessons can be drawn from the war in Ukraine for a potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific? 

Markéta Pekarová Adamová, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Keiichi Ichikawa Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary and Deputy National Security Adviser 

Jae-Seung Lee Professor at Korea University and Director of Ilmin International Relations Institute

Jacob Stokes Senior Fellow at the Indo-Pacific Security Program Center for a New American Security  

Moderator: Bobo Lo, Independent International Relations Analyst

4.15 p.m. – 5.45 p.m. Panel Discussion: 75 Years of NATO – What to Celebrate in Washington This Summer?

The next NATO Summit will take place in Washington on July 9-11. It will be an important moment to look at how well NATO has managed to link capability planning with operational planning. At the same time there is one key unanswered question from Vilnius, namely, how to proceed with Ukraine's application to join NATO? Has NATO managed to implement the decisions of Madrid and Vilnius? How has NATO fared in light of the war in Ukraine?

Hanno Pevkur, Minister of Defence of Estonia

Pierre Vimont, Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe

Johann David Wadephul, Member of Bundestag, Deputy Chairman for Foreign Affairs and Defence Policy, CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group at the Council of Europe

Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy

Moderator: Kimberly Dozier, Global Affairs Analyst at CNN

5.45 p.m. – 6.15 p.m.  Lennart Meri Lecture (speaker will be announced on the day)

6.45 p.m. – 8.15 p.m.  Panel Discussion: Trans-Atlantic Relations at a Time of Growing Isolationism

In 1947, at the start of the Cold War, US Senator Arthur Vandenberg famously asserted that "politics stops at the water's edge". Recently however this sentiment no longer feels true. Aid packages to Ukraine, Taiwan and long-term ally Israel were stalled for months in the House of Representatives. It seems that Americans are tired of forever wars and want to focus more on internal matters. Is it true? What should we expect after the November elections? How can we keep the two sides of the Atlantic on the same page when it comes to foreign and security policy?

Benjamin Haddad, Member of the French National Assembly

Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Senior Fellow and Director with the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security 

Margus Tsahkna, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia

Ana Isabel Xavier, Secretary of State at the Ministry of National Defence of Portugal

Moderator: Rym Momtaz, Consultant Research Fellow for European Foreign Policy and Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies

Saturday, May 18

10.00 a.m. – 11.30 a.m. Panel Discussion: Can We Turn the Baltic Sea into a NATO Lake?

The Baltic Sea is an important trade corridor for all the countries around it and several pieces of critical infrastructure run on its bottom. When Finland and Sweden decided to join NATO, several people expressed their delight with the decision by referring to the Baltic Sea a NATO lake. However, as recent incidents with undersea infrastructure show, these calls might be overly optimistic. In September 2022, the Nord Stream pipelines were ruptured by an attack and in October 2023 a gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland was damaged along with several communication cables. Can we use the momentum created by Finland and Sweden's accession to look more seriously at the security of the Baltic Sea? What can be done to protect ourselves from hybrid attacks?

Peter Viggo Jakobsen, Associate Professor at Royal Danish Defence College

Pål Jonson, Minister for Defence of the Kingdom of Sweden

Vice Admiral Jan Christian Kaack, Chief of the German Navy

Jüri Luik, Estonian Ambassador to NATO

Moderator: Teri Schultz, Independent Reporter

11.30 a.m. – 12.00 p.m.   Coffee break

12.00 p.m. – 1.25 p.m. Panel Discussion: Keeping Up Support to Ukraine – Defining as Long as It Takes?

In July 2023 President Biden declared that Putin had already lost the war in Ukraine. In the spring of 2024, however, the situation is less clear. While Ukraine has defined victory as the complete liberation of its territory, the West promises to support Ukraine as long as it takes, without a clear definition. But how do we define as long as it takes? What kind of support does Ukraine need to win? What would be the consequences if the support were to stop?

Igli Hasani, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania

Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia

Samir Saran, President of the Observer Research Foundation

Timothy Snyder, Levin Professor of History and Global Affairs at Yale University

Moderator: Jim Sciutto, Anchor and Chief National Security Analyst at CNN 

13.25 p.m. – 13.35 p.m. Closing remarks: Helga Kalm, Director of the Lennart Meri Conference

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