On the eve of the NATO Summit, Foreign Policy and the New Eurasian Strategies Centre hosted an exclusive reception and panel discussion, bringing together military leaders, policymakers, and scholars to map Russia’s next moves and NATO’s response. Experts unpacked how Moscow’s expected post-Ukraine-war rearmament, evolving high-tech tactics, and domestic support could reshape allied defense planning.

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The 2025 NATO Summit represents a potential turning point for Western allied defense, as nations respond to shifting geopolitical dynamics with a renewed focus on investments in defense readiness and resilience. Despite competing priorities in a complex threat landscape, there is an opportunity and a need to focus on the under-appreciated threat of weaponization of biopathogens by malicious actors. From known hazards such as anthrax and smallpox to unknown pathogens created through the use of AI and emerging technologies, these threats can appear and spread rapidly without warning. This FP roundtable, produced in partnership with Emergent, will bring together military, policy, industry, and academic stakeholders to discuss Total Defense strategies and how specific countermeasures can strengthen resilience and safeguard civilians in the face of bio-based attacks.

As global security challenges mount and NATO allies ramp up defense spending, there is an increased urgency to accelerate the development and adoption of emerging and disruptive technologies as key tools in defense arsenals. NATO and its member states are working toward a more agile and dynamic innovation ecosystem which can meet current operational needs and quickly adapt to future threats. This closed-door, Chatham House Rule Foreign Policy roundtable, produced in partnership with the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (NATO DIANA) and the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), will discuss the hurdles and potential of new approaches to adoption and deployment of emerging and disruptive technologies — from operational planning to investment alignment.

In an era where nearly every aspect and sector of society—from essential communications services to energy systems —relies on digital infrastructure, the complexity of infrastructure security and the stakes for robust cybersecurity have never been higher for citizens and national security. A lynchpin of infrastructure and cyber networks protection is the cooperation and collaboration between the private companies who own and operate the critical infrastructure and the governments who rely on these digital systems for government services and national security. This Chatham House Rule roundtable, from Foreign Policy and Microsoft, will explore how NATO and allied countries can move towards a more resilient digital ecosystem—one where the interdependence between public and private actors is both acknowledged and actively managed.