28 November 2024

Keynote and Public Panel – Room 038

Keynote: Beyond NATO’s Washington Summit

This panel debate aims to address the question of how the results of the 2024 US presidential elections will affect NATO and its intra-alliance dynamics. As NATO celebrated its 75th anniversary during the Summit in Washington in July 2024, one of the most daunting issues for the future of the Alliance revolved around the role of the United States, which has already been looking more into the Asia-Pacific and the competition with China. Yet, there are some striking differences in how the two presidential candidates viewed US commitments to international alliances, including NATO. The panel will attempt to shed light on the key consequences of the election of Donald Trump for NATO’s future.

10:00 Welcome by the organizers: Professor Łukasz Kamieński, (Director of the LSE IDEAS CSEEP at JU)

10:15 Keynote Speech: Professor Alexander Lanoszka (University of Waterloo)

Moderator: Dr. Wojciech Michnik (Jagiellonian University/LSE IDEAS CSEEP at JU)

11:00-12.00 Panel discussion: “Keeping Americans in”? NATO after the US presidential elections (room 038)

Speakers: Dr. Patricia Daehnhardt (Portuguese Institute of International Affairs), Eoin McNamara (Finnish Institute of International Affairs), Danielle Piatkiewicz (Alliance of Democracies Foundation)

Moderator: Dr. Wojciech Michnik (Jagiellonian University/LSE IDEAS CSEEP at JU)

12:00-13:15 Lunch Break (room 036)

13:15–16:30 Closed Door Expert Seminar, invite-only (room 012)

This seminar will serve as a platform to discuss crucial results of the Washington Summit and, consequently, the biggest challenges for the Alliance in a short and mid-term perspective. The experts in the first panel will be asked not only to weigh in on the major decisions announced during the NATO Summit but also to analyze selected challenges that the Alliance and its members face. The second panel will deal with NATO’s cohesion in the context of the Alliance’s 360-degree security approach. Even though Russia’s war against Ukraine has dominated NATO’s agenda for almost three years, other threats and challenges have not ceased to exist. International terrorism, the war between Gaza and Israel, the effects of the climate crisis, and the growing great power competition in Asia are only some of the examples of the impressive list of concerns for the Alliance. How NATO should address them while maintaining its cohesion will be a main question in this section of the seminar.

Panel 1: NATO after the Washington Summit – The Alliance’s Ongoing Transformation
Speakers: Dr. Andris Banka (University of Greifswald), Prof. Artur Gruszczak (Jagiellonian University), Dr. Wojciech Michnik (Jagiellonian University/LSE IDEAS CSEEP at JU)
Moderator: Danielle Piatkiewicz (Europeum, Institute for European Policy)

Panel 2: Beyond ‘Eastern Flank’? Challenges to NATO’s Cohesion
Speakers: Alessandro Leonardi (American University of Rome), Prof. Michele Testoni (IE University)
Moderator: Johann Kattenstroth (Jagiellonian University)

Thank you to all the speakers (who faced foggy adventures trying to reach Kraków), moderators, and attendees for making this a meaningful exchange of ideas. Special thanks to our partners: LSE IDEAS, New Eastern Europe, Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego, Muzeum Historii Polski w Warszawie, and Patriotyzm Jutra.