NATO at a Crossroads: Reaffirming the Alliance in a Changing Security Environment

The National Security Institute (NSI) is hosting a private roundtable convening stakeholders from NATO embassies and senior congressional staffers to provide a candid, off-the-record discussion on NATO’s continued strategic value, evolving burden-sharing dynamics, and the alliance’s role in addressing current and emerging threats.

Date: June 24, 2026
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm ET
Location: Capitol Hill

Opening Remarks: 

• Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH-10)

Moderator: 

• Andrew Borene, Vice President, Ocient National Security Solutions

Panelists:

• Mr. Jan Havránek, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Czech Republic to the U.S.
• Mr. Jonas Wendel, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Sweden to the U.S.
• Mr. Mathieu Droin, Political Counselor for Strategic Affairs, Embassy of France to the U.S.
• Mr. Photis Bourloyannis-Tsangaridis, Head of the Political Office, Embassy of the Hellenic Republic to the U.S.

 

Bios:

Rep Mike Turner (R-OH, 10)

Congressman Mike Turner is a lifelong resident of Southwest Ohio.

His father worked in the manufacturing industry in Dayton for over 40 years, and his mother taught elementary school in the Huber Heights School District. Congressman Turner is the proud father of two daughters.

Growing up, Congressman Turner attended Dayton Public Schools and graduated from Belmont High School. He continued his education in Ohio and received a bachelor’s degree from Ohio Northern University, an MBA from the University of Dayton, and a Juris Doctorate from Case Western University School of Law. In the Spring of 2022, Turner graduated from Georgetown University with a Doctorate in Liberal Studies focused on urban economic development.

Congressman Turner practiced law in Dayton for over 17 years, and in 1991, he opened his own private legal practice specializing in real estate and corporate law.

Turner served as Mayor of the City of Dayton for eight years. During his tenure, he was a strong proponent of neighborhood revitalization and economic development. He created Rehabarama, a private-public partnership to rehabilitate neglected housing in Dayton’s historic neighborhoods, which had a significant economic impact on the region and received national awards. He also improved police response time by 40 percent, added 54 police officers to the force, and established a development fund that awarded over $19 million in grants for housing and job-producing projects, all while maintaining a balanced budget throughout his tenure.

Congressman Turner was first elected to Congress in 2002. In Congress, Turner is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and has previously served as the lead Republican of the Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee as well as the Strategic Forces subcommittee. The subcommittees oversee Army and Air Force acquisition programs, all Navy and Marine Corps aviation programs, nuclear weapons, missile defense, and space systems.

At the time of Congressman Turner’s election, there was no advocate for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base or Ohio’s military installations on the House Armed Services Committee. Congressman Turner filled that void and throughout his time in Congress, Wright-Patt has successfully doubled, adding approximately 19,000 jobs on-base. It remains the largest single-site employer in the state of Ohio. Thousands of additional jobs have been created in the Miami Valley in support of the base. Turner helped secure $182 million in federal funding for the construction of a new National Air and Space Intelligence Center, the Air Force’s primary source for foreign air and space threat analysis.

Turner served as Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) from 2023 to 2025. Turner was Dayton’s first elected official to serve in a leadership role on a national security committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Most recently, Congressman Turner was selected to sit on the Oversight and Accountability Committee. The Oversight Committee seeks to ensure the efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of the federal government and all its agencies.

In January 2011, Turner was appointed Chairman of the US Delegation to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Assembly, the inter-parliamentary organization of legislators from the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance. In December of 2014, Turner was elected President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. He now serves as Vice-Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

 

Mr. Jan Havránek

Jan Havránek is the Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, DC.

Prior to his appointment, he served as the Deputy Minister of Defence responsible for defence policy and strategy, international cooperation, defence planning and crisis management (2020-2022).

He previously was the Policy Adviser at the Policy Planning Unit of the Office of the NATO Secretary General in Brussels (2017-2020); Head of Defense Section at the Czech Republic’s Permanent Representation to NATO in Brussels (2014-2017); Assistant First Deputy Minister of Defense (2013-2014); and foreign policy advisor to Minister of Defence (2010-2012).

Jan Havranek is a frequent speaker and commentator on international security, transatlantic relations, hybrid warfare, NATO, EU and other related subjects. In 2013, he was named to the Diplomatic Courier’s annual list of the “Top 99 Under 33 Foreign Policy Leaders.” His other engagements have included cooperation with GLOBSEC projects (2011-2013), fellowship at Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA, 2013-2014); and work for the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI, 2003-2006) and the Association for International Affairs in Prague (AMO, 2002-2007)

Jan holds a master’s degree in international security studies from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (2009).

 

Mr. Jonas Wendel

DCM Jonas Wendel was promoted to his present position in August 2023, after serving in the Nordic Council of Ministers for four years. Mr. Wendel joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1999, and since has enjoyed a long career at various postings both in Sweden and in Bangladesh, Iran, Morocco, France, Finland, North Korea, and Denmark.

Mr. Wendel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Mid Sweden University and a Master of Science degree in Economics from Stockholm University.

Mr. Wendel is married and has three children.

 

 

Mr. Mathieu Droin

Mathieu Droin currently serves as the Counselor for Strategic Affairs in the Political section of the French Embassy in the United States. Starting September 2026, he will be the Deputy Chief of Mission at the French Embassy in Singapore.

Prior to joining the French Embassy, he was a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think tank in Washington DC, in the Europe, Russia, Eurasia Program, from 2022 to 2024. He published in outlets such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, War on The Rocks, Politico, and featured in various international media such as the Washington Post, BBC, WSJ, CBS News, France24, etc.

From 2010 to 2017, he worked for the Ministry of Economy and Finance (French Treasury), serving as Deputy Head of the Economic Departments of French embassies in Kuwait, Baghdad and Abu Dhabi.

He joined the MFA in 2017, as a desk officer on Syria in the MENA department. He then took office as Deputy Head of the Strategic Affairs and Cybersecurity unit at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in Paris in September 2020. 

He holds a master’s degree in foreign policy analysis from the Bordeaux Institute of Political Studies (Sciences-Po Bordeaux).

Mathieu is married and proud father of a son and a daughter. In addition to French, and English, he is fluent in Arabic and Spanish.

 

Mr. Photis Bourloyannis-Tsangaridis

Photis Bourloyannis-Tsangaridis is a Greek diplomat, with the rank of Political Counselor, who is serving as Head of the Political Section at the Embassy of Greece in Washington D.C. since August 2024. He has previously served as Deputy Director of the Diplomatic Cabinet of the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis from 2022-2024. He has worked as an EU diplomat in the European External Action Service in Brussels from 2015 to 2022, including as Deputy Head of the Russia Division and as Political Assistant to the Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia. Prior to these roles, he served at the Greek Permanent Representation to the EU (2011-2015) and at the Embassy of Greece in Ankara (2008-2011). Before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece, he worked as a Consultant at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank Group in Washington D.C. 

He holds an MA in International Affairs from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University and a BA (Honors) in Politics and International Relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury. He is fluent in English, French and German and has working knowledge of Italian.