Earlier this year I had the privilege to attend the NATO Youth Summit in Miami where I had the opportunity to engage NATO leaders on the pressing issues facing the alliance.
Thought-provoking discussions were led by figures including the NATO Secretary General Jens Stolenberg, the First Lady of the United States Dr Jill Biden, the US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatovic.
A major focus of the discussions were centred on the threat of disinformation and how NATO is responding to Russia’s use of hybrid warfare in the context of the war in Ukraine. Various panellists and summit participants warned of the growing threat posed by disinformation and used the summit as an opportunity to promote solutions to mitigate its pernicious effect.
A key takeaway of the summit is that both NATO and the US government are far more mature and advanced than the U.K. when it comes to recognising the urgent threat posed by disinformation and promoting adequate solutions. Attending the NATO summit has convinced me to double down on efforts by Polis Analysis to convince U.K. policymakers on the need to take disinformation seriously.
– Reflections provided by Thomas Barton, an Aspen UK Rising Leader, who had the opportunity to attend the 2024 NATO Youth Summit through the Rising Leaders Fellowship.
The summit (which is a collaboration between NATO, The Aspen Institute, Aspen Institute Romania, the Swedish Defence University and the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency) serves as a platform to engage, build links, enhance understanding, exchange views, and explore how the transatlantic Alliance addresses current and future challenges.