2025
Aspen Security Forum
July 15-18, 2025 | Aspen, CO
2025 Agenda
2025 Speakers
2025 Videos and Transcripts
Message from our Executive Director, Anja Manuel
June 20, 2025
Dear friends and colleagues,
The year 2025 has emerged as a time of profound global recalibration.
Deadly and destabilizing conflicts in the Middle East and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine continue to challenge the world order, new alliances and trade agreements are evolving, and societies are racing to come to terms with artificial intelligence and other technologies, impacting every part of our lives.
However, the vast majority of the world’s citizens, including its leaders, share something deeply human—a desire to reduce conflict, to build stability, and to create a more prosperous world.
But the tools we once relied on—strategic alliances, long-standing partnerships, institutional norms—may no longer function quite as they did decades ago. In our rapidly shifting global landscape, our task is not simply to respond as we always have, but to question assumptions that may no longer hold true:
We assumed that economic interdependence would be the norm, and lead to less conflict.
We assumed that technology would always serve us, not challenge us.
We assumed that institutions built in a different era would endure unchanged.
At Aspen, we seek to approach global challenges with a beginner’s mind—open, humble, and ready to discover new solutions.
This summer, we will explore how releasing old assumptions can open the door to innovation, collaboration, and strategic recalibration.
Our founder Joe Nye—who sadly passed away this year—reminded us to retreat to nature to renew and reinvigorate our thinking. And so, we gather here once again, on this beautiful mountain, not only to assess risks, but to explore bold new approaches—clear-eyed, open-minded, and ready for the future.
Thank you for joining us.
See you in Aspen,
Anja Manuel
Executive Director
Aspen Strategy Group and Aspen Security Forum
2025 Agenda
The 2025 Aspen Security Forum agenda is taking shape. Please note that all speakers and times are subject to change.
2025 SPEAKERS
The 2025 Forum features the highest caliber of speakers, including domestic and international government officials, business executives, leading academics, and noted journalists from around the world.
Andrius Kubilius
European Commissioner for Defence and Space, European Commission
Vivian Balakrishnan
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore
Baiba Braže
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia
Jonathan Black
Deputy National Security Advisor, Cabinet Office, United Kingdom
Adam Boehler
Special Envoy for Hostage Response, U.S. Department of State
Balázs Orbán
Political Director of the Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister
Pasi Rajala
Political State Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defence of Finland, Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defence of Finland
Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadóttir
Special Envoy of Council of Europe Secretary General on the situation of children of Ukraine, Council of Europe
Senator Christopher Coons
United States Senator, United States Senate
Mark R. Warner
United States Senator, United States Senate
Claudia Ruiz Massieu
Congresswoman, Chamber of Deputies of Mexico; Former Foreign Minister of Mexico
Sachin Pilot
Former Minister, Corporate Affairs, Telecom & Information Technology, Government of India; General Secretary, Indian National Congress
Halyna Yanchenko
Member of the Parliament of Ukraine; Head of Investment Taskforce for Defense Industry
Hina Khar
Former Foreign Minister of Pakistan; Chairperson, National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee
Joel Sampaio
Speaker, Brazilian Foreign Ministry
Statement on Department of Defense Participation at the 2025 Aspen Security Forum
For more than a decade, the Aspen Security Forum has welcomed senior officials—Republican and Democrat, civilian and military—as well as senior foreign officials and experts, who bring experience and diverse perspectives on matters of national security.
This year, we extended invitations to senior Trump administration officials, including several cabinet-level leaders. Today the Department of Defense gave their speakers guidance that they “will no longer be participating.”
We will miss the participation of the Pentagon, but our invitations remain open.
We are honored to host dozens of top national security voices, experts, business leaders and innovators, from across the political spectrum—and from across the world—at this year’s Forum. The Aspen Security Forum remains committed to providing a platform for informed, non-partisan debate about the most important security challenges facing the world.
Videos and Transcripts
DAILY RECAPS
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