Where is the Future Forces Forum – Global Networking 2026 taking place?

The event is scheduled to take place in Prague, CZE.

What is the primary format of the Future Forces Forum – Global Networking 2026?

The event is designed as a global networking forum, emphasizing collaboration and knowledge exchange among diverse stakeholders.

Future Forces Forum – Global Networking 2026

Name: Future Forces Forum – Global Networking 2026
Start: 2026-10-19T00:00:00Z
End: 2026-10-23T00:00:00Z
Location: Prague

Oct 19–23, 2026Prague, Czech RepublicIn-person

Registration open

The Future Forces Forum – Global Networking 2026, held in Prague, CZE, serves as a pivotal international platform for fostering collaboration and innovation in defense and security. This event brings together a diverse array of stakeholders, including military professionals, government officials, industry leaders, and academic experts, to discuss and showcase the latest advancements and strategies in global security. Its primary objective is to facilitate networking and knowledge exchange, addressing contemporary challenges and future trends in defense.

Committees & topics

Topics
Air Defence and Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems · Autonomous Systems, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Defence · Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Threats · Counter-Terrorism · Crisis Management and Critical Infrastructure Protection · Crisis and Military Medicine · Cyber Security and Defence · Emerging and Disruptive Technologies and Defence Innovation

Why it matters

In an era marked by complex geopolitical shifts and evolving security threats, forums like the Future Forces Forum – Global Networking 2026 are crucial for international cooperation. The event provides a unique opportunity for participants to engage directly with counterparts from various nations, fostering dialogue that can lead to enhanced collective security measures and strategic partnerships. The discussions and presentations often cover critical areas such as emerging technologies, cyber defense, and humanitarian operations, reflecting the multifaceted nature of modern security challenges.

The gathering in Prague, CZE, underscores the importance of a unified approach to global security. By bringing together perspectives from different countries and sectors, the forum helps to identify common ground and develop shared solutions to issues that transcend national borders. This collaborative environment is essential for building resilience against threats ranging from conventional warfare to hybrid conflicts and terrorism, ultimately contributing to global stability.

How to prepare

To maximize engagement at the Future Forces Forum – Global Networking 2026, participants should undertake thorough preparation. A key aspect of this involves understanding the diverse range of stakeholders present, which can be achieved through effective "what-is-stakeholder-mapping" and "stakeholder-workshop" techniques. Identifying key players and their interests beforehand allows for more targeted and productive interactions, aligning with the principles of "engagement-strategies."

Furthermore, participants should consider conducting a "dynamic-analysis" of current global security trends and potential discussion points. This includes anticipating the perspectives of various national delegations and industry representatives. Recognizing "hidden-stakeholders" and their potential influence can also provide a strategic advantage in networking and discussions, ensuring that all relevant viewpoints are considered for a comprehensive understanding of the topics at hand.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 4 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Czech Republic

Host nation, emphasizing regional security and defense innovation.

Role in topic

As the host country, CZE plays a central role in facilitating international dialogue on defense and security. Its strategic location in Europe positions it as a key contributor to regional stability and a hub for defense technology development and collaboration.

United States

Major global defense actor, focused on technological superiority and international alliances.

Role in topic

The USA is a significant participant, often showcasing advanced defense technologies and advocating for strong international partnerships to address global security challenges. Its involvement is crucial for shaping discussions on future defense strategies and capabilities.

Germany

Key European defense contributor, emphasizing multilateral cooperation and technological advancement.

Role in topic

DEU is a prominent European power with a strong defense industry and a commitment to multilateral security initiatives. Its perspective often highlights the importance of European cooperation in defense and the integration of new technologies.

United Kingdom

Global security partner, focusing on innovation and strategic defense partnerships.

Role in topic

The GBR contributes significantly to global security discussions, often bringing insights on defense innovation, cyber security, and strategic alliances. Its participation helps to shape the discourse on future defense capabilities and international collaboration.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Air Defence and Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Air defence has been transformed over the past decade by the proliferation of cheap, commercially derived unmanned aerial systems alongside more traditional missile and aircraft threats. The wars in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, Ukraine since 2022, and the Red Sea and Israel-Gaza theatres since 2023 have demonstrated that small loitering munitions and one-way attack drones can saturate even sophisticated air-defence networks, while ballistic and cruise missiles continue to pose strategic risks. Western and Russian doctrines that long emphasised layered, high-end systems such as Patriot, S-400, IRIS-T and SAMP/T have been forced to integrate short-range, low-cost counter-UAS capabilities, including electronic warfare, directed energy, and gun-based interceptors. The core dispute today is one of cost-exchange and industrial throughput: defenders frequently expend interceptors worth hundreds of thousands of dollars against drones costing a few thousand, and Western stockpiles have been depleted by sustained operations. NATO has accelerated initiatives such as the European Sky Shield and joint procurement of munitions, while Ukraine has become a live laboratory for layered counter-UAS tactics. At the same time, the diffusion of drone technology to non-state actors, including the Houthis and Hezbollah, has pushed air-defence planning beyond peer conflict to the protection of critical infrastructure and civilian populations.

Key players

Autonomous Systems, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Defence

Military interest in autonomy and robotics dates back to early UAV and cruise-missile programmes, but the convergence of machine learning, cheap sensors and edge computing since the mid-2010s has produced a qualitative shift. Loitering munitions, uncrewed ground and surface vehicles, AI-enabled targeting aids and algorithmic command-and-control tools are now in operational use in Ukraine, the Red Sea, and the Israel-Gaza conflict. Major powers have published AI strategies — the US DoD's 2023 Data, Analytics and AI Adoption Strategy, China's military-civil fusion programmes, and NATO's AI Strategy — that frame autonomy as a decisive enabler of future force design. The central international debate concerns lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) and the question of meaningful human control. Discussions in the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Group of Governmental Experts have continued since 2014, but states remain divided between those favouring a legally binding instrument restricting fully autonomous lethal systems and those, including several major military powers, preferring non-binding norms and codes of conduct. The November 2023 US-led Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of AI and Autonomy and the 2024 REAIM summits in The Hague and Seoul reflect an emerging governance ecosystem outside formal treaty negotiations.

Key players

Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Threats

The CBRN threat landscape rests on a layered architecture built after the Cold War: the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968), Biological Weapons Convention (1972), Chemical Weapons Convention (1993), and IAEA safeguards. These regimes succeeded in eliminating declared chemical stockpiles in several states and constraining nuclear proliferation, but they have been strained by Syrian chemical weapons use confirmed by the OPCW, the Salisbury and Kuala Lumpur Novichok and VX assassinations, and the collapse of confidence-building under the BWC. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant introduced a new category of risk: deliberate or accidental radiological release in active combat zones. Current disputes centre on verification, attribution, and the dual-use dilemma. The BWC still lacks a verification protocol after the 2001 breakdown of negotiations; the OPCW's Investigation and Identification Team has faced political contestation; and advances in synthetic biology, AI-assisted drug discovery, and additive manufacturing have lowered technical barriers to producing dangerous agents. Civil protection planners increasingly emphasise CBRN preparedness for hybrid scenarios — terrorist incidents, industrial sabotage, and the spillover of conflict near nuclear and chemical facilities.

Key players

Counter-Terrorism

The international counter-terrorism architecture built after 11 September 2001 — UN Security Council resolutions 1267, 1373 and 1540, the Global Counterterrorism Forum, and successive UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy reviews — was designed primarily against al-Qaeda and, later, ISIL. The territorial defeat of the ISIL caliphate in 2019 shifted the threat toward dispersed affiliates, with ISIL-Khorasan, Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin and Islamic State Sahel Province now driving violence across Afghanistan, the Sahel, and parts of East and Southern Africa. The October 7 2023 Hamas attacks and the subsequent regional escalation involving Hezbollah and the Houthis have re-centred attention on state-sponsored and proxy terrorism. Key contemporary debates concern the use of digital platforms for radicalisation and financing, including cryptocurrency and end-to-end encrypted messaging; the proliferation of extreme-right and ideologically motivated violent extremism in Western states; and the human-rights costs of counter-terrorism measures, repeatedly highlighted by the UN Special Rapporteur. The withdrawal of Western and UN missions from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and the entry of Russian-linked private military actors, have left significant capability gaps in the Sahel that shape current threat trajectories.

Key players

Crisis Management and Critical Infrastructure Protection

Crisis management doctrine has evolved from Cold War civil defence into a whole-of-society approach addressing natural disasters, pandemics, hybrid threats, and cascading infrastructure failures. The 2015 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the EU Critical Entities Resilience Directive (CER, 2022) and the revised NIS2 Directive, and NATO's Seven Baseline Requirements for resilience codify the principle that defence depends on the continuity of energy, transport, water, finance, health and digital systems — most of them privately owned. The COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, and the 2022 Nord Stream sabotage demonstrated how rapidly disruption can cascade across sectors and borders. The current focus is on hybrid threats: undersea cable cuts in the Baltic, GPS jamming over northern Europe, sabotage of railways and energy substations, and disinformation campaigns timed to crises. States are debating how to share threat intelligence with private operators, when grey-zone incidents cross thresholds that justify Article 5 or comparable responses, and how to ensure redundancy in cloud, satellite and energy supply chains. Climate-driven disasters add a constant baseline load on civil-protection systems already stretched by security demands.

Key players

Crisis and Military Medicine

Modern military medicine has been shaped by the trauma-care revolution of the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which drove improvements in tourniquet use, damage-control resuscitation, blood-product logistics and tactical combat casualty care. NATO's Allied Joint Doctrine for Medical Support and the Committee of the Chiefs of Military Medical Services in NATO (COMEDS) standardise role-based care from point of injury through strategic evacuation. The COVID-19 pandemic stressed both civilian and military health systems and forced new attention to biosurveillance, medical logistics, and dual-use research. The war in Ukraine has reset expectations for large-scale combat operations. Casualty volumes, prolonged field care under contested evacuation, the medical consequences of drone-inflicted injuries, and the targeting of hospitals have exposed gaps in NATO and partner stockpiles of blood, antibiotics and burn care. Simultaneously, antimicrobial resistance, climate-linked disease emergence, and mass-casualty terrorism scenarios are pushing crisis medicine toward closer civil-military integration, expanded role for telemedicine and AI triage, and renewed emphasis on the protection of medical personnel under international humanitarian law.

Key players

Cyber Security and Defence

State use of cyber capabilities moved from espionage into the strategic mainstream after Stuxnet (2010), the 2015 and 2016 attacks on Ukraine's power grid, the 2017 NotPetya and WannaCry incidents, and the 2020 SolarWinds compromise. Cyber operations now accompany every major conflict, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine generating the most sustained state-on-state cyber campaign on record and Chinese intrusions such as Volt Typhoon targeting Western critical infrastructure for potential disruption. Ransomware, much of it tolerated or directed from permissive jurisdictions, has produced systemic risks to hospitals, pipelines and local governments. Multilateral governance proceeds through the UN Open-Ended Working Group on ICTs, which has reaffirmed the applicability of international law and the 2015 GGE norms but has not resolved disputes over attribution, due diligence, and a possible permanent UN cyber mechanism. NATO recognised cyberspace as an operational domain in 2016 and updated its Cyber Defence Policy in 2023; the EU has built out NIS2, the Cyber Resilience Act and a Cyber Solidarity Act. Core disagreements persist between states preferring an open, multi-stakeholder internet governed by existing law and those, led by Russia and China, seeking a new treaty and stronger sovereign control over information space.

Key players

Emerging and Disruptive Technologies and Defence Innovation

NATO's 2021 Emerging and Disruptive Technologies strategy identified eight priority areas — AI, autonomy, quantum, biotechnology, hypersonics, space, novel materials, and next-generation communications — and established the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) and the NATO Innovation Fund. The EU has matched this with the European Defence Fund, the Hub for EU Defence Innovation (HEDI) and PESCA projects, while the US Department of Defense operates the Defense Innovation Unit, the Office of Strategic Capital and the Replicator initiative. China's military-civil fusion strategy and large state investments in quantum, AI and biotechnology have framed the competition as systemic. The core policy challenge is translating commercial innovation into deployable military capability at speed, while managing export controls, supply-chain dependencies (particularly in semiconductors, rare earths and biotechnology), and ethical and legal risks. Recent disputes over advanced-chip export controls, outbound investment screening, and dual-use research highlight that emerging technology has become a frontline of geo-economic competition. Smaller and middle powers are increasingly bundling into minilateral arrangements such as AUKUS Pillar II to gain access to capabilities that no single state can develop alone.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for Future Forces Forum – Global Networking 2026.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

Arming an archipelago: Is time running out for Europe's oldest DMZ? | Euronews

Comprehensive approach to security: Federal Council launches consultation on Switzerland's security policy strategy

Europe's June Heatwave: Infrastructure Crisis

Japan's Dilemma Over Hormuz Mine Clearance

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Dynamic Analysis

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Crisis Management

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Czech Republic October 2026

By committee

Frequently asked questions

Future Forces Forum – Global Networking 2026

Oct 19–23, 2026Prague, Czech RepublicIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
Air Defence and Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems · Autonomous Systems, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Defence · Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Threats · Counter-Terrorism · Crisis Management and Critical Infrastructure Protection · Crisis and Military Medicine · Cyber Security and Defence · Emerging and Disruptive Technologies and Defence Innovation

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 4 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Czech Republic

Host nation, emphasizing regional security and defense innovation.

Role in topic

United States

Major global defense actor, focused on technological superiority and international alliances.

Role in topic

Germany

Key European defense contributor, emphasizing multilateral cooperation and technological advancement.

Role in topic

United Kingdom

Global security partner, focusing on innovation and strategic defense partnerships.

Role in topic

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Air Defence and Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Key players

Autonomous Systems, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Defence

Key players

Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Threats

Key players

Counter-Terrorism

Key players

Crisis Management and Critical Infrastructure Protection

Key players

Crisis and Military Medicine

Key players

Cyber Security and Defence

Key players

Emerging and Disruptive Technologies and Defence Innovation

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for Future Forces Forum – Global Networking 2026.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

Arming an archipelago: Is time running out for Europe's oldest DMZ? | Euronews

Comprehensive approach to security: Federal Council launches consultation on Switzerland's security policy strategy

Europe's June Heatwave: Infrastructure Crisis

Japan's Dilemma Over Hormuz Mine Clearance

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Dynamic Analysis

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Crisis Management

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Czech Republic October 2026

By committee

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

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Frequently asked questions

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

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Youth Impact Conference 2026 (YIC 2026)

Science, Dissent, and Activism: How Non-State Actors Challenged the Cold War Order

CRENDES Interdisciplinary Conference – Bridging Disciplines for Global Development and Sustainability

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Frequently asked questions