Youth Forum to discuss NATO’s future

  • 02 Apr. 2009 - 03 Apr. 2009
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  • Last updated: 08 Apr. 2009 11:25

On 2-3 April 2009, NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division will host a Youth Forum entitled, “NATO in 2020: What Lies Ahead?” on the margins of the NATO Summit in Strasbourg, France and Kehl, Germany.

Part of NATO’s campaign marking the 60th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty’s signing, the Forum will bring together some 350 international students and young professionals from 57 different nations.

Participants will discuss with leading experts the Alliance’s role in the evolving security environment. The Forum will provide a broad perspective on security issues by featuring philosophers, human rights campaigners, economists and journalists as well as security specialists. 

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will make opening remarks followed by a question-and-answer session on Thursday, 2 April at 18:00. In addition, the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy will give a keynote address on Friday 3 April at 8:45.

Confirmed speakers are Claudio Cordone of Amnesty International, Dr Dan Hamilton of The Johns Hopkins University, Dr Irina Kobrinskaya of The PSI Foundation, Edward Lucas of The Economist, Mr Gideon Rachman of The Financial Times, author Ahmed Rashid, Dr Tomas Ries of The Swedish Institute for International Affairs, and Member of the European Parliament Ari Vatanen. The panels will be moderated by Mr Cherno Jobatey of Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen and Mr Steven Erlanger of The New York Times.

The Youth Forum is organised by NATO PDD in cooperation with l’Office franco-allemand pour la Jeunesse, the Atlantic Treaty Association, the Atlantic Council of the United States, l'Ecole Nationale d'Administration (l'ENA) and France 3 Alsace.