Join us October 14-16 in Weimar, Germany for this timely seminar on the ethics of contemporary war. Seminar tuition is €2,600 and accommodation is €500. If you are interested, email [email protected].
The Ethics of Cause and Conduct:
Reflections on Contemporary War
War raises some of the most difficult moral questions societies face. At a time marked by renewed geopolitical tensions and ongoing armed conflicts, a central dilemma emerges: When is the use of force justified – and what responsibilities do those involved carry once conflict begins? As technological advances – from autonomous systems to cyber capabilities – reshape warfare, these questions become even more complex, blurring established boundaries and challenging existing norms. At the same time, they reach beyond the battlefield, raising broader questions of responsibility: how should defense spending be prioritized, what ethical limits should guide research and development, and what role should the defense industry play in shaping security policy?
The Aspen Socrates Seminar 2026 with the title “The Ethics of Cause and Conduct – Reflections on Contemporary War” creates a space to engage deeply with the ethical dimensions of contemporary warfare. Bringing together participants from diverse professional backgrounds and perspectives, it offers an opportunity to examine the principles, tensions, and trade-offs that shape decisions before, during, and beyond conflict. The seminar invites participants to develop a nuanced understanding of the ethical frameworks that govern both the justification for war and the conduct within it. It also encourages reflection on the broader ecosystem of security – from procurement and innovation to strategic prioritization – highlighting the moral responsibilities that accompany power and preparedness.
Held on October 14–16, 2026, in Weimar, Thuringia, and organized in partnership with the Aspen Institute Kyiv, the seminar offers a protected, high-level setting for open and candid exchange. It connects professionals from the military, civil society, public administration, and police communities, strengthening transatlantic ties while building trusted networks across sectors.
More information can be found in our brochure here.
If you are working at the intersection of security, public service, and policy and are interested to engage in thoughtful dialogue, we warmly encourage you to apply; please contact us at [email protected].
Moderator: Dr. Evelyn N. Farkas has three decades of experience working on national security and foreign policy in the U.S. executive, legislative branch, private sector and for international organizations overseas. She is currently the executive director of the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. Prior to that, she was president of Farkas Global Strategies and a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Atlantic Council and national security contributor for NBC/MSNBC. She served from 2012 to 2015 as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia, responsible for policy towards Russia, the Black Sea, Balkans and Caucasus regions and conventional arms control.
From 2010 to 2012 she served as Senior Advisor to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Special Advisor to the Secretary of Defense for the NATO Summit. Prior to that, she was a senior fellow at the American Security Project, and Executive Director of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. From April 2001 to April 2008, she served as a Professional Staff Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Asia Pacific, Western Hemisphere, Special Operations Command, peace and stability operations, combatting terrorism, counternarcotics, homeland defense, and export control policy.
From 1997-2001 Farkas was a professor of international relations at the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College. She served in Bosnia with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 1996-1997, and was an election observer in Afghanistan in 2009. She has published numerous journal articles and opinion pieces and “Fractured States and U.S. Foreign Policy: Iraq, Ethiopia, and Bosnia in the 1990s” (Palgrave/St. Martin’s Press, 2003, 2008).
She speaks Hungarian and German, has studied French, Spanish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, and Hindi.
Dr. Farkas obtained her MA and Ph.D. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a member of the board of trustees of Franklin & Marshall College and Aspen Institute Socrates Seminar, and Harold Rosenthal Fellowship advisory boards. She has received several Department of Defense and foreign awards and an honorary doctorate from Franklin & Marshall College.
Moderator: Dr. Karin von Hippel was Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) for nine years (2015 – 2024). She joined RUSI after serving for nearly six years in the US Department of State as a Senior Adviser in the Bureau of Counterterrorism, as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, and finally, as Chief of Staff to General John Allen, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter-ISIL.
Prior to that, she co-directed the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC and was a senior research fellow at the Centre for Defence Studies, King’s College London. She has also worked for the United Nations and the European Union in Somalia and Kosovo, and has direct experience in over two dozen conflict zones.
Dr von Hippel has numerous publications to her name, including Democracy by Force: US Military Intervention in the Post-Cold War World (2000), which was short-listed for the RUSI Westminster Medal in Military History. She holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, an MSt from Oxford University, and a BA from Yale University.
