The 2026 Aspen Security Forum kicked off last night in Aspen, CO! We are pleased to share some of the highlights from the opening night below.
Tune in to today’s sessions by joining our livestream!
Opening Night Highlights
Welcome Remarks from Nicholas Burns and Anja Manuel
Nicholas Burns
Co-Chair, Aspen Strategy Group
Anja Manuel
Executive Director, Aspen Strategy Group
“This year, as you all know, the United States turns 250 years old…It’s a moment to look back, but also a reminder that absolutely nothing is fixed for very long. Institutions change, empires fall, and ideas that were once dismissed as impossible can suddenly change the world.“
—Anja Manuel
Nicholas Burns and Anja Manuel opened the 2026 Aspen Security Forum by setting the stage for three days of conversations on the most pressing national security and foreign policy challenges.
The State of the World 2026
Condoleezza Rice
Co-Chair, Aspen Strategy Group; 66th U.S. Secretary of State; Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Mark T. Esper
27th U.S. Secretary of Defense; Partner, Red Cell Partners Venture Capital
Penny Pritzker
38th U.S. Secretary of Commerce; Founder and Chairman, PSP Partners
Moderator
Peter Spiegel
The Washington Post
“I’m very often asked, is what we’re seeing a revolution or an evolution? And I say that a revolution is what happens when you don’t see an evolution coming.” —Condoleezza Rice
In the opening session, three former Cabinet-level officials discussed geopolitical hotspots from Ukraine to Iran, identifying the lasting secular trends shaping our current security environment.
Out of This World: Space and Security
Kari Bingen
Director, Aerospace Security Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Robert Lightfoot
President, Lockheed Martin Space
Heather Pringle
CEO, Space Foundation
Dan Smoot
CEO, Vantor
Moderator
Andrea Mitchell
NBC
“Space-based capabilities are now going sovereign. Where they used to depend on the international community like the U.S. for capabilities, they’re now looking to build their own. So you’re seeing this incredible surge for commercial utilization now to build out these capabilities for the first time. [Space] from a defense and intel perspective has actually become front and center.” —Dan Smoot
This panel examined space as a warfighting domain, assessing China’s accelerating investments, the growth of satellite megaconstellations, and the applications of space capabilities for intelligence and targeting, as well as how space exploration can be a source of inspiration.
