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Gen. Ben Hodges

Commanding General (Ret.), US Army Europe
Member, Future of Security and Defence Council, GLOBSEC

About Speaker

Lieutenant General (Retired) Ben Hodges, the former Commanding General of US Army Europe, has held the positions of Senior Advisor to Human Rights First and the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). General Hodges currently consults for several companies on Europe, NATO, and the European Union, and he is co-author of the book Future War and the Defence of Europe, published by Oxford University Press.

A native of Quincy, Florida, General Hodges graduated from the United States Military Academy in May 1980 and was commissioned as an Infantry Officer in the US Army. 

After his first assignment as a Lieutenant in Garlstedt, Germany, he commanded Infantry units at the Company, Battalion, and Brigade levels in the 101st Airborne Division, including the First Brigade Combat Team “Bastogne” in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (2003-2004). His other operational assignments include Chief of Operations for Multi-National Corps-Iraq in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (2005-2006) and Director of Operations, Regional Command South in Kandahar, Afghanistan (2009-2010).

General Hodges has also served in a variety of Joint and Army Staff positions to include Chief of Plans, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea; Aide-de-Camp to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps; Director of the Pakistan Afghanistan Coordination Cell on the Joint Staff; Chief of Legislative Liaison for the United States Army; and Commander, NATO Allied Land Command 2012-2014 in İzmir, Turkey. His last military assignment was as Commanding General, United States Army Europe in Wiesbaden, Germany from 2014 to 2017.

He retired from the U.S. Army in January 2018 and lives today with his wife in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaker

Drones, Detection, Defense: Cooperation in a New Security Era

Organized in cooperation with Atlantik-Brücke e.V. 

The threat posed by drones to critical infrastructure, public events, and military operations is rapidly evolving. In 2025, we saw multiple instances of drone sightings over European civilian airports, often resulting in temporary airport shutdowns. While this for the first time brought drones and hybrid warfare to the top of the European security agenda, drone warfare has been a reality on the Ukrainian battlefield for a long time, forcing Ukraine to ever-faster innovation cycles in drone defense and detection. At the same time, developments in the Indo-Pacific offer valuable insights into the future of drone technologies and countermeasures. 

Bringing together experts from industry, armed forces innovation, and regional leadership, this side session aims to highlight cutting-edge solutions in drone detection, tracking, and defense. In the current climate of transatlantic relations, many European leaders emphasize technology independence and European sovereignty. However, some innovations coming from the United States are still indispensable for European security, while partnerships with key Indo-Pacific actors further broaden the landscape of innovation and resilience. 

Against this background, the side session aims to discuss with business, military and political leaders if and how transatlantic cooperation alongside increased engagement with Indo-Pacific partners can enhance our collective security in an increasingly interconnected and contested technological environment. 

Side session – upon separate invitation Defence Drones
Thursday, 21. 5. 2026
17:00–18:30 CEST
Karlin 4

Behind Closed Doors with General John R. Allen & Lieutenant General Ben Hodges

A candid conversation with General John R. Allen and Lieutenant General Ben Hodges on the future of transatlantic security, military readiness and the strategic lessons shaping NATO and European defence.
Chat Defence NATO
Friday, 22. 5. 2026
09:15–09:40 CEST
POLITICO Speakeasy

Beyond Dependence: Europeanisation of NATO

As Europe faces a shifting U.S. posture and stretched American resources, questions are intensifying about the future of transatlantic security. Can NATO remain a robust alliance if Europe assumes greater responsibility for its own defence? Recent moves, such as the U.S. handing over command of key NATO structures in Naples and Norfolk to European leadership, alongside Europe’s push to ‘Buy European’ and reduce reliance on U.S. defence systems, illustrate both the opportunities and tensions in reshaping the alliance. The political and strategic implications of a more autonomous Europe within the NATO framework are becoming ever clearer, including how European nations can strengthen the alliance without undermining transatlantic unity. From defence industrial priorities to command structures, the focus is on whether NATO can evolve to meet new geopolitical realities and whether the U.S. and Europe can redefine their partnership on more equal terms.
  • How can Europe strengthen its defence capabilities while remaining fully committed to NATO, rather than building outside it?
  • What reforms are necessary within NATO to reflect the changing balance of responsibility between the U.S. and European members?
  • Can NATO maintain cohesion if the U.S. further deprioritises European security, or does Europe need to rethink its strategic independence?
  • How do diverging perspectives on defence spending, technology procurement, and industrial autonomy affect the transatlantic relationship?
  • What political and strategic mechanisms can prevent tensions from rising as Europe seeks a more assertive role within NATO?

Executive Summary

During this panel, Admiral Bauer's central challenge to the European political class was structural: the same national leaders who attend NATO summits and agree on capability targets then return to Brussels and discuss the same strategic questions as if the NATO agreement did not exist, generating political noise without additional military output. General Hodges urged to stop grovelling to the current president, it produces nothing; think long-term; and recognise that the combined economic and military potential of Europe, Canada and the UK dwarfs Russia, the deficit is will, not wealth. Conway-Mouret's perspective on nuclear deterrence framed the question of strategic autonomy not as an anti-American impulse but as the logical consequence of a scenario in which American ITAR restrictions could prevent a European ally from defending its own territory in a conflict Washington had chosen not to join. Maroto identified two structural elephants the EU's 27 competing voices against the single-person decision-making of Xi, Putin and Trump, and the generational cultural shift required to persuade European publics that welfare states without defence are not sustainable. Lucia Yar noted that the political groups loudest in demanding European strategic agency are typically the most opposed to the EU competence reforms that would make it possible.

Livestream Link:  https://youtube.com/live/wCLFeacz5Bk?feature=share
Panel Session Defence NATO Europe–U.S. Relations
Friday, 22. 5. 2026
13:40–14:30 CEST
Schwarzenberg Stage

Ukraine: From Security Consumer to Provider

For decades, Ukraine depended on Western security guarantees and partnerships for its defence. Since February 2022, that relationship has been fundamentally transformed. Ukraine has not only withstood one of the largest land wars in Europe since World War II, but has developed one of the most battle-hardened, technologically innovative, and operationally experienced militaries on the continent. Ukraine's evolution from a recipient of security assistance to an active contributor to European and transatlantic security is reshaping the continent's defence landscape. From drone warfare and electronic countermeasures to intelligence sharing and urban combat doctrine, Ukraine's hard-won expertise is already changing how NATO allies think about modern warfare. As accession to the European Union advances and Euro-Atlantic integration deepens, the question is no longer whether Ukraine has a role in European security architecture, but how that role should be defined, institutionalised, and resourced. That process requires not just military integration. It demands progress on reconstruction, rule of law, and governance reform as essential pillars of security sector transformation, and political will within the EU to match the pace of Ukraine's ambitions.
  • What does Ukraine's military and industrial transformation mean for the future of European defence?
  • Where does the EU accession process stand, and what does meaningful security cooperation look like within that framework?
  • How can allies best leverage Ukrainian expertise and capacity?
  • What responsibilities come with Ukraine's emerging status as a frontline security provider?

Executive Summary

Kamyshin's account of building a Ukrainian drone production ecosystem inside Germany from agreement to first product in two months was the most operationally specific contribution on Ukraine at the Forum. His analogy was pointed: there are only two nations on the European continent capable of producing what a major war requires at scale, one wants to invade Europe, and the other is asking to be integrated into it. Mathernová identified a perception mismatch at the root of the strained relationship: Ukraine counts its integration journey from 2014, Europe counts from 2022. Hodges offered direct American self-criticism: the current US administration has been worse than its predecessor on Ukraine, has failed to understand why Ukrainians fight as they do, and is in the process of destroying the alliance relationships that make American power globally relevant. 

Livestream Link:  https://youtube.com/live/2V27ExndUMw?feature=share
Panel Session Defence Ukraine
Friday, 22. 5. 2026
16:10–17:00 CEST
Havel Stage

Emerging Domains of Allied Security Partnership

Pushed by massive shocks to global balance and stability, NATO and its members transform their partnerships to match the security challenges of tomorrow. The alliance’s future rests on new forms of partnerships based on horizontally extending the number and diversity of partners while vertically deepening cooperation in new strategic keys of the future. This panel will debate how NATO countries can enlarge their partnership domains in facing emerging security challenges and areas to secure a safe future.
Keynote Global Systemic Transformation NATO
Saturday, 23. 5. 2026
08:00–08:50 CEST
Karlin 2

Moderator

Troubled Waters and Strategic Stakes: The Black Sea in a Changing Security Order

Organized in cooperation with the New Strategy Center 

The Black Sea is a battlefield, where Russia constantly attacks Ukraine’s ports, both on the seacoast and along the Danube. Floating mines and electronic warfare, which disrupts vessel communications, pose a major threat to civilian shipping. Around 20% of Russia’s shadow fleet still uses the Black Sea as a launch platform for oil exports. 

Ukrainian naval and aerial drones have managed to destroy a significant part of Russia’s fleet, this asymmetric approach offering lessons that should be applied to the defense of other enclosed seas. 

The Black Sea is about energy routes, vast gas resources, and connectivity projects. It is the gateway for Ukrainian grain exports to global markets, on which hundreds of millions of people in Africa and Asia depend. The Black Sea is also crucial for Europe’s energy independence, with Romania set to become the EU’s largest gas producer by 2027, as it begins exploiting gas from its Exclusive Economic Zone in the Black Sea. 

What does the day-to-day confrontation between Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea look like? What is NATO’s military posture in the region? How does the United States use its bases in Romania to project power into the Middle East? Which decisions emerging from negotiations between Russia and the United States could affect regional security? And what will the Black Sea look like after a peace agreement is reached? 

Side session Defence
Friday, 22. 5. 2026
14:30–16:00 CEST
Karlin 3

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