The Aspen Security Forum is a nonpartisan public venue for domestic and global leaders to discuss the key national security and foreign policy issues of the day, and has been held annually since 2010. Presented by the Aspen Strategy Group, it is the premier national security and foreign policy conference in the United States.
Anja Manuel, Executive Director of the Aspen Strategy Group, writes in this year's Welcome Message,
"Our founders Joe Nye and Brent Scowcroft believed the Rockies could create space away from the noise for serious people to engage in serious problems. This year, our challenge is for each of us, speakers and participants, to bring forward our audacious, impossible, 'too hard' ideas—and pressure test them together to ensure the continued success of this unique and marvelous democratic experiment."
Since 2013, Aspen Public Radio has been bringing listeners sessions from the Aspen Security Forum and will do so once again this year, producing a special broadcast at 8pm each evening, Tuesday, July 14, through Friday, July 17, available on the station's live broadcast signals, 91.5FM and 88.9FM, and streaming on aspenpublicradio.org.
This year's broadcasts will include the following sessions:
Day 1: Tuesday, July 14 (8pm)
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 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
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
Day 2: Wednesday, July 15 (8pm)
The China Challenge
- Nicholas Burns, Co-Chair, Aspen Strategy Group; Former U.S. Ambassador to China; Goodman Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations, Harvard Kennedy School
- Tarun Chhabra, Head, National Security Policy, Anthropic
- Elizabeth Economy, Hargrove Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
- Robert Thomson, CEO, News Corp
- Moderator: Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times
The Human Element of War: Military Service Across Generations
- Colonel Jack Jacobs, Medal of Honor Recipient, National Medal of Honor Museum
- Lieutenant Colonel Will Swenson, Medal of Honor Recipient, National Medal of Honor Museum
- Joe Dinkel, SEAL, U.S. Navy; Rising Leader Class of 2023
- Moderator: Courtney Kube, NBC
Day 3: Thursday, July 16 (8pm)
It’s Not You, It’s U.S.: The Future of NATO
- Nils Schmid, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Defence, Germany
- Chris Brose, President and Chief Strategy Officer, Anduril
- General Christopher Cavoli (Ret.), 19th Commander, U.S. European Command; 20th Supreme Allied Commander Europe
- Mircea Geoană, Former Deputy Secretary General, NATO, Founder, Aspen Institute Romania
- Moderator: Courtney Kube, NBC
Middle Ground in the Middle East?
- Salam Fayyad, Former Prime Minister, Palestinian Authority; Professor of Public Policy, Princeton University
- Kim Ghattas, Contributing Writer, The Atlantic; Author, Black Wave
- Amaney Jamal, Dean, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
- Herro Mustafa Garg, Former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Bulgaria; Founder and Principal, Hollyhock Global Advisory
- Moderator: David Ignatius, The Washington Post
Day 4: Friday, July 17 (8pm)
The New National Security: Investing in Frontline Resilience
- Alice Albright, Former CEO, Millennium Challenge Corporation; Carnegie Distinguished Fellow, Columbia University
- Comfort Ero, President and CEO, International Crisis Group
- Alaa Murabit, Managing Partner of Sustainable Growth, 500 Global
- Ana Zacapa, Philanthropy and Non-Profit Advisor, Root Capital
- Moderator: Niamh King, Director, Aspen Strategy Group and Aspen Security Forum
The Arctic: High North, Higher Stakes
- Thomas Dans, Chairman, U.S. Arctic Research Commission
- General Eirik Kristoffersen, Chief of Defense, Norway
- Pasi Rajala, Political State Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defence of Finland, Prime Minister’s Office of Finland
- Moderator: Lara Seligman, The Wall Street Journal
Click here to read the full 2026 Welcome Message from Anja Manuel.
Review the complete 2026 schedule here: https://www.aspensecurityforum.org/aspen-security-forum/2026-asf/2026-agenda/
Please note: broadcast schedule is subject to change without notice.