The Rīga Conference Future Leaders Forum
Future Leaders Forum is an important part of the Rīga Conference and is aimed at young professionals with interest in international relations, defence and security. It is a unique opportunity for the participants to network and debate issues of interest with peers, policy makers, academics, opinion leaders.
The hybrid format of the event blends traditional in-person meetings with remote streamlined interactions among speakers and participants in Latvia and abroad.
20 October 2022
The National Library of Latvia
08:30 - 09:00
Registration & coffee
09:00 - 09:30
Welcoming remarks by
Dr Kristine Zaidi, Programme Lead, Future Leaders Forum, The Riga Conference 2022
Baiba Braže, Assistant Secretary General of NATO for Public Diplomacy (video recording)
Oliver Morwinsky, Head of the Baltic States Offices, Konrad Adenauer Foundation
Sigita Struberga, Secretary-General of the Latvian Transatlantic Organisation
09:30 – 10:15
Leadership: how to get it ‘right’. Future Leaders Panel
If leadership is about building relationships, providing and sharing a vision, and direction and producing change, what qualities and skills should tomorrow’s leaders possess to respond to the diverse nature of challenges to international stability and security? In this session emerging leaders will share their views on what constitutes good leadership, that can inspire, influence, and empower others to deliver the vision and bring about change to make the world a safer place.
FLF Participants:
Nino Kotolashvili
Philipp Wolf
Olha Nykorak
Heincz Barnabás
Moderator: Jazlyn Melnychuk
10:15 – 11:30
Resilient and secure world: how do we get there?
The pursuit of long-term economic, social and cultural prosperity is not imaginable without the effective functioning of the international order that is able to withstand crisis and provide mechanisms for a meaningful response. More often than not, this requires a comprehensive perspective on security and a systemic approach to producing resilience. Yet, it remains a challenge, as the ongoing war in Europe has demonstrated. Coordination of effort and response to unprovoked aggression has proved to be challenging, particularly as the conflict prolongs. In this session we will discuss the requirements for a functioning international order that is fit for purpose in a physically and digitally interconnected world; and an international order that is more resilient to acute and chronic shocks as well as to the changing nature of current and future threats.
Professor Alan Riley, Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Centre
Adam Potočňák, Research fellow and lecturer at the Centre for Security and Military Strategic Studies at the University of Defence in Brno, Czech Republic
Agata Szmigiel, Cyber Security expert
Juxhina S.Gjoni, International President, Youth Atlantic Treaty Association (YATA) International
Moderator: Dr Amelie Theussen, Senior Researcher in War Studies, Danish Institute of International Studies
11:30 – 12:00
Coffee break
12:00 – 13:15
Evolving challenges and threats: how NATO and EU need to adapt?
As nature of threats continues to evolve, so must our response. Such agility not only requires maintaining a technological advantage, but also a set of continuous intensive collaborative efforts across a myriad of areas ranging from security and defence to energy in order to ensure sustainable supply chains. This requires political and diplomatic efforts to strengthen existing alliances and recognition of what needs to be changed in order to remain responsive and effective in the collective pursuit of stability and security. All of which are prerequisites of economic growth, and societal and cultural prosperity. In this session we explore how NATO and the EU need to adapt in order to be able to remain at the cutting edge of innovation and be able to respond effectively to the diverse nature of challenges as well as the evolving threats to make a meaningful contribution to building a secure and resilient global order.
As nature of threats continues to evolve, so must our response. Such agility not only requires maintaining a technological advantage, but also a set of continuous intensive collaborative efforts across a myriad of areas ranging from security and defence to energy in order to ensure sustainable supply chains. This requires political and diplomatic efforts to strengthen existing alliances and recognition of what needs to be changed in order to remain responsive and effective in the collective pursuit of stability and security. All of which are prerequisites of economic growth, and societal and cultural prosperity. In this session we explore how NATO and the EU, and individual member-states, need to adapt in order to be able to remain at the cutting edge of innovation and be able to respond effectively to the diverse nature of challenges as well as the evolving threats to make a meaningful contribution to building a secure and resilient global order.
Dr Benedetta Berti, Head of Policy Planning in the Office of the Secretary General at NATO
Ambassador (ret) Carsten Sondergaard, former Danish ambassador to Russia, NATO and Germany
Dr Silvia Maria Colombo, Researcher and Faculty Advisor at the NATO Defence College in Rome (remotely)
Nora Biteniece, Consultant, Strategic Communication Department, State Chancellery of Latvia
Moderator: Dr Mihai Chihaia, Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre
13:15 – 14:15
Lunch break
14:15 – 14:40
Trial of a board game: “NATO and media literacy”
led by Jānis Rungulis (East Stratcom Consulting) un Vitālijs Rakstiņš (Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia)
14:40 – 16:00
War in Ukraine and its regional and global impact
There is no doubt that the war in Ukraine will have a lasting impact on regional and global security. The primary aim is to secure peace, where Ukraine, with the support of its allies, will be in a position to implement its recovery plan. While securing peace, we need to learn collective lessons to ensure that such conflicts do not occur; and how to reduce dependences that impact our ability to respond to aggression through cooperation and more sustainable long-term approaches to strategic resources. War and violent conflict are devastating and must be prevented; however, as we have seen, conflict also creates a window of opportunity to produce change, and a focus on progress and development. In this session, we will discuss the impact of the war and what can learn from it to make a positive change.
Anna Kovalenko, Former member of the Ukrainian Parliament and government official
James Sherr, OBE, Senior Fellow of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute
Michael Martin Richter, EU Innovative Training Network Research Fellow, University of Bremen
Dr Dmitri Teperik, Chief Executive, International Centre for Defence & Security
Dr Daniel Szeligowski, Head of Eastern Europe Programme, Polish Institute of International Affairs
Moderator: Katsiaryna Lozka, PhD Fellow at the Ghent Institute for International and European Studies, Ghent University
16:00 – 18:00
Simulation exercise
led by Dr Balkan Devlen, Senior Fellow at Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Canada