Governing the Intelligent Alliance: Realigning Power, Economy and Defence in the Age of AI

8th Edition | 5th Edition in Brussels

The 2026 edition is an international Leadership & Public Policies Seminar, conducted in English, organized by the Aspen Institute Romania, with the support of NATO and of the Aspen Brussels Hub and in partnership with the European Center for Economic Security, Technology and Resilience (ECESTR).

The transatlantic alliance is entering a new phase of structural realignment: geopolitical fragmentation persists, economic competition intensifies, and technological acceleration reshapes the foundations of power.

Yet beneath these visible shifts lies a deeper transformation: artificial intelligence is becoming a defining infrastructure of governance, security and economic growth.

In this context, the challenge is no longer whether AI will transform our societies. It already is. The strategic question is whether democracies can govern this transformation coherently, and together.

The Seminar proposes a forward-looking transatlantic dialogue on how AI is reshaping strategic infrastructure, economic competitiveness, and defence capabilities. Taking place in Brussels, at the institutional heart of Europe and in close connection with NATO and EU actors, the Seminar will explore how the transatlantic community can realign its policies, institutions and alliances to remain both innovative and secure in the AI age.

Rather than treating AI as a technological trend, this edition of the Seminar frames it as a structural force, one that is redefining how power is exercised, how economies compete, and how how defence and security are organised.

The central question around which the seminar conversations will revolve is: How can the transatlantic community govern AI and emerging technologies in a way that strengthens security, competitiveness, and defence structures, without undermining innovation or trust?

The 2026 edition of the seminar preserves the Socratic text-based format, while reorienting the intellectual core toward technology as a structural force, on 3 pillars:

  • Pillar I – AI as Strategic Infrastructure: Power, Dependence and Sovereignty
  • Pillar II – The Intelligent Economy: Competitiveness, Work and the Future of Growth
  • Pillar III – AI, Defence and Strategic Security in the Age of Realignment

The 3-Pillar Structure reflects three dimensions of power: infrastructure power, economic power, and political and security power.

The Seminar will be moderated by TYSON BARKER, nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center and by RADU PUCHIU, Aspen Technology & Society Program Director.

Seminar format and participants

The Transatlantic Seminar is an international Leadership & Public Policies Seminar, organized by the Aspen Institute Romania for the 5th time in Brussels.

It gathers for each edition around 25 participants, belonging to various nationalities, representing key stakeholders from both sides of the Atlantic, involved in strengthening the Transatlantic ties.

The participants have various backgrounds such as technology, communication, cybersecurity, defense policy, foreign affairs, diplomacy, political affairs, international relations, finance etc. They are leaders of the Brussels international and diplomatic community, representatives of key public institutions, think-tankers, experts from the academia, private sector representatives etc. The Seminar also brings together participants nominated by the Aspen Institutes in Europe (UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Central Europe, Ukraine).

During the 3 days of the seminar, the participants are challenged to explore contemporary critical issues facing the world and to have an informal, constructive debate on topics of high relevance. The format of the event is closed door, designed as an expert-moderated text-based dialogue, conducted in English, taking place under the Chatham House rules.

By attending the Transatlantic Seminar, participants become Aspen Alumni and join the growing community of Fellows and Alumni of the Aspen Institute Romania, already covering more than 40 countries and more than 2,000 individuals from across the globe.

Participation to the seminar is by invitation only.