This conference, held on December 5th, 2024 and presented by CIPS, UQAM and MINDS, brought together leading academics and practitioners, and focused on some of the most pressing challenges facing Canada and its NATO allies as the Alliance seeks to respond to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and, more broadly, to adapt to what is widely perceived as a new era of instability. The conference provided an opportunity for participants and guests to assess recent developments relevant to the strengthening of the eastern flank, to examine their likely implications, and to identify possible steps/opportunities for addressing current challenges/limitations and strengthening the ability of NATO to exercise deterrence and defence functions in the future. The conference addressed not only developments on the eastern flank but also broader dynamics that shape those developments, such as the security situation in the Balkans and recent electoral outcomes in key member states.

Read the related blogs:

• Cynicism, (Performative) Honesty on Defence in Central & Eastern Europe & NATO by Anessa L. Kimball
• Does Article 5 Still Work for Poland? NATO’s Response to Hybrid Threats by Wiktor Andrzejewski
• The Euro-Atlantic Community and the European Radical Right by Srdjan Vucetic
• Sleepwalking to War by Aida A. Hozic
• NATO’s Core Mission: The Collective Defence of What? by Rebecca R. Moore
• Crypto-Atlanticism: Policy Elites and Neutrality in Europe by Filip Ejdus
• Atteindre 2% du PIB d’ici 2029 by Justin Massie & Phillippe Lagassé
• Strategic Cultures in Flux: Slovakia, Germany, and NATO’s Eastern Flank by Nick Arndt & Barbora Tallova
• Is Angela Merkel’s Ghost Pushing Germany From the World Stage? by Jan Claudius Völkel

Watch the keynote address by William C. Wohlforth here: