On day one of the Transatlantic Forum, the participants were greeted by: Vice Admiral Frederick J. Roegge, President of the National Defense University; Mr Walter B. Slocombe, Secretary and representative of the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Council, and Mr Paolo Alli, President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

The first session, moderated by Mr Paolo Alli, President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, was dedicated to the Transatlantic Agenda and the Brussels Summit: Washington perspective, and the participants in the Forum were addressed by Mr Daniel Fried, distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council's Future Europe Initiative and Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, and presented the said issue to the participants.

During the discussion that followed, the delegates of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly talked on the basis of a spectrum of issues treating the Washington’s perspective in the context of the Transatlantic Agenda and the Brussels Summit 2018.

The second session dedicated to:  “Challenges in the Middle East,” moderated by Mr Vitalino Canas from Portugal, Vice President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and the delegates were addressed by Ambassador Frederic C. Hof, Director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, Atlantic Council, on the topic “The Evolving U.S Approach to Syria and Iraq “, and Mr Aaron David Miller, Vice President for New Initiatives and Distinguished Scholar of the Wilson Center, on the topic “A US Perspective on the Palestinian Israeli Conflict”.

Within the second part of the session, moderated by Mr Metin Lufti Baydar from Turkey and Vice President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the participants in the Transatlantic Forum were addressed by Mr Brett McGurk, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS, with a presentation on the topic “The US Campaign Against ISIS”.

On day two of the 17th Annual Transatlantic Forum of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, within the third session on the topic “US Defence and Deterrence Strategy”, moderated by Ms Rasa Jukneviciene from Lithuania and Vice President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the participants were addressed by Mr Elbridge Colby, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development, with a presentation on the topic “US Defence Strategy”, and then by Mr Jonathan D. Pollack, Senior Fellow at the Center for East Asia Policy, Brookings Institution, who presented “The North Korean Case”.

The continuation of the event on the topic “Redefining US Relations with China” was moderated by professor of the National Security Strategy Dr Cynthia Watson, representative of the National War College at the National Defence University, and it was followed by presentations by Mr Michael Mazza, Research Fellow, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute, on the topic “Meeting China’s Military Challenge” and Mr David Shambaugh, Professor and Director, China Policy Program, Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University, on the topic “Meeting China’s Diplomatic and Economic Challenges”.

After this, the fifth session followed, titled: “Russia: A Foreign Policy and Domestic Challenge to the Alliance”, moderated by Mr Leo Michel, non-resident Senior Fellow, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, Atlantic Council, and the presentations on this occasion were given by Ms Fiona Hill, Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs, National Security Council, on “Russia’s Ongoing Challenge to the West: Foreign and Security Policy Dimensions” and Mr Alexander Vershbow, Distinguished Fellow, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, Atlantic Council, on the topic “Russia's Challenge to the Functioning of Western Democracies“.

Then, within the 17th Annual Transatlantic Forum, in part allocated for the discussion on “The US Administration’s Trade Agenda”, moderated by Ms Frances G. Burwell, distinguished fellow and representative of the Future European Initiative, the delegates of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly were addressed by Mr L. Daniel Mullaney, Assistant United States Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East, on “The Trump Administration’s Global Trade Agenda”.

During the seventh session of the event titled “The US Administration’s Environmental and Global Governance Agenda” moderated by Mr Ojars Eriks Kalnins, Lithuania, Chairperson of the Political Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the participants of the Forum were addressed by Mr Nicolas Loris, Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow in Energy and Environmental Policy, Center for Free Markets and Regulatory Reform, The Heritage Foundation, on “The Trump Administration’s Approach to Environmental Policy”, and then by Mr Miles Kahler, Senior Fellow for Global Governance, Council on Foreign Relations, Distinguished Professor, American University School of International Service, on “The Future of Global Governance”.

On this occasion, based on the keynote speeches, the participants discussed current challenges in the field of global climate change and the significance of timely recognition of the growing dangers, the capability of responding to threats from this field and their influence on the global security environment.

This was followed by the exchange of opinions by the participants of the 17th Annual Transatlantic Forum of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on the topic “American Politics: The Lessons of 2017 and the 2018 Agenda” moderated by Lord Campbell, United Kingdom, Vice President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, while the keynote speakers were Ms Diana Owen, Associate Professor of Political Science in the graduate program in Communication, Culture, and Technology, and former director of American Studies, Georgetown University, on “The Digital Revolution and American Politics in the Trump Era”, and then Ms Barbara Perry, Director of Presidential Studies, The University of Virginia, on “The Implications for American Politics of President Trump’s First Year in Office”.

The 17th Annual Transatlantic Forum of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is implemented in cooperation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly with the Atlantic Council of the United States, the Institute for National Strategic Studies of the National Defense University, in the period 11-13 December 2017, in Fort McNair, Washington, DC, USA.

The 17th Annual Transatlantic Forum of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly gathers parliamentarians - members of permanent delegations of the NATO member states, as well as associate members from the EU member states Austria, Finland and Sweden.

The event will continue its work tomorrow.