Our American Allies: NATO and the Future of U.S. Power
October 3, 2025
Russia’s aggression. China’s rise. The future of NATO. In a moment of global uncertainty, former ambassadors to NATO Julianne Smith (Biden Administration) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (first Trump Administration) joined us for Our American Allies, a candid, bipartisan conversation on what U.S. leadership and alliance building must look like in the years ahead.
Our annual Progressive / Conservative Summit is an opportunity to learn about the central ideologies of our times and encourage good faith dialogue and debate on divisive issues.
Full Event Recording
Speakers
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Julianne Smith
Ambassador Julianne Smith is a distinguished national security expert with over two decades of experience in U.S. and European defense policy, transatlantic relations and geostrategic risk. She has held senior leadership positions at the White House, the Department of Defense and the Department of State, where she has shaped NATO’s response to the Ukraine war, advanced U.S.-European economic and military partnerships and addressed global security challenges stemming from China, North Korea, Iran and Russia.
Most recently, Smith served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO (2021–2024), where she played a pivotal role in securing Allied support for Ukraine, coordinating intelligence sharing with Allies and finalizing Finland and Sweden’s accession to the Alliance. She also led efforts to integrate China into NATO’s Strategic Concept.
During the Obama administration, Smith served as Acting National Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor to Vice President Joseph Biden. Prior to that role, she served as the Principal Director for European and NATO Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Her career spans influential roles at think tanks such as the German Marshall Fund, the Center for a New American Security and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where she published extensively on grand strategy, Russia, counter-terrorism and China’s deepening relationships in Europe./
Smith has been honored with multiple awards, including the Order of the Polar Star of Sweden, the U.S. Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award, the Sue M. Cobb Award for Diplomatic Excellence and the Cross of the Order of Merit of Germany. Fluent in French and German, she has conducted extensive research in Europe, including fellowships at the Robert Bosch Academy and the American Academy in Berlin.
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Kay Bailey Hutchison
Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison was sworn in as the Permanent Representative of the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on August 15, 2017. In this position, she was responsible for holding the alliance together and mapping out a strategy for how the United States works with Russia, China, and the world in general.
From 1993-2013, she served as a U.S. Senator from Texas and was also elected to a Senate leadership position. Ambassador Hutchison gained extensive international experience and developed a deep understanding of NATO as a Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. She also served as Chairman of the Military Construction Subcommittee and as a Member of the Defense Subcommittee on the Senate Appropriations Committee. In honor of her service as Senator, the Dallas Convention Center was renamed the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, the first major convention center in the country named for a woman. She served two terms as Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Prior to assuming her duties, Ambassador Hutchison was a prominent attorney at Bracewell, LLP, an established international law firm in Dallas, Texas. Ambassador Hutchison also served in the Texas House of Representatives, as the Texas State Treasurer, and as Vice Chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. She has written three books, including Unflinching Courage: Pioneering Women Who Shaped Texas, Leading Ladies: American Trailblazers, and the Bestselling American Heroines: The Spirited Women Who Shaped Our Country. Ambassador Hutchison earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas and a degree of Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law.
She calls Dallas home and has two children.