On Tuesday, July 8, at 2:00 p.m. ET, the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht National Security Resilience Initiative will publicly launch its task force’s inaugural report, “Resilience first: Strengthening individuals, securing the United States, and protecting the free world.” Task force members will discuss what national security resilience means across multiple levels: international, national, state and local, and individual.

The panel will be followed by a reception in the Adrienne Arsht Sky Lobby to celebrate the report’s launch.

In 2024, the initiative established a task force that has worked collaboratively over the past year to help shape the direction of a future work program. The report is intended to lay the groundwork for a deeper exploration of resilience as a core component of
security. It serves both as a starting point and a framework for future projects aimed at exploring resilience across multiple levels, identifying key enablers and obstacles, and informing practical applications for governments, organizations, and communities around the world.

In a world where it is increasingly difficult to predict specific threat and risk outcomes, a “resilience first” approach offers a comprehensive foundation for national security. Focusing on resilience cuts across both conventional and emerging risks, while enabling a more deliberate focus on the factors within an individual’s control that support the ability to understand, prepare, adapt, respond, and recover.