In 2014, the United Kingdom will become the center of the political world as it hosts the NATO Summit. Heads of state and government, top diplomats, military commanders, and other international leaders will convene to make decisions that will affect the global economy and geopolitical landscape. Building on years of experience convening emerging leaders at flagship events at the last five official NATO summits, the Council will host the 2014 Future Leaders Summit on the side-lines of the official NATO Summit in Wales. This Future Leaders Summit will connect emerging leaders from NATO member countries with one another, the Alliance’s current leaders, luminaries in the international security sphere, and a lasting global network of peers. The Council will select a cadre of exceptional emerging leaders to participate in this dynamic event through an open and competitive call for applications. Selected applicants will join members of the Council’s Emerging Leaders Working Group at the summit. Applications to participate in the Future Leaders Summit will become available the last week of June 2014.
About the Future Leaders Summit
The summit will focus on the overarching theme of renewing the transatlantic bond and enable the next generation of leaders to delve into the future of issues such as advancing Smart Defense policy, enhancing cybersecurity capabilities and cooperation, charting NATO’s role in Afghanistan post-2014, strengthening NATO’s global partnerships, emerging challenges in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, and other issues as determined by the discussions among NATO leaders. The Future Leaders Summit will serve as a major public diplomacy event to focus global attention on NATO, the United Kingdom, and Wales, and provide a high-profile venue for future and current Alliance leaders to engage one another and the public.
The summit will feature unique programming to complement the discussions at the NATO Summit, provide future Alliance leaders the opportunity to directly engage in the policy discourse, and bring these discussions to a wider audience in the United Kingdom and around the world. Specific programming may include:
- Keynote speeches by high-profile figures, including heads of state and government, ministers, members of Congress, and policy experts;
- Substantive roles for future Alliance leaders in the summit, including opportunities to introduce leaders and share the stage with senior diplomats, military commanders, and policy experts;
- Opportunities for members to meet and debate with colleagues from around the Alliance and with leading global policy experts;
- Robust media coverage that will broadcast the dialogue well beyond the summit walls, including member interviews with media outlets from their home countries; and
- Programming that engages students from the local community, providing mentorship opportunities about the Alliance to communities across the United Kingdom.
Through participating in the summit and related programming, members will join an elite network of rising security leaders connecting them with alumni from five previous NATO summits and providing unique opportunities to attend flagship Council events and contribute substantively to major policy initiatives over the coming years. In the run-up to the summit.