Global Youth Leaders Discuss Peace, Security at NATO Summit
As global leaders gathered in Chicago to discuss global peace and security at the 2012 NATO Summit, youth leaders from around the world were invited to join them, including Tommy Durham from the UK.
Mr Durham was chosen through NATO’s iRep Competition, a video essay contest designed to bring young people into discussions of peace and security. Twenty winners were chosen and travelled to Chicago to attend speeches by world leaders and meet face-to-face with top NATO officials.
Mr Durham is a recent graduate from Durham University with a Masters in Politics and International Relations. Originally from Nottingham, Tommy’s video entry explored different definitions of world peace and explained how NATO’s mission and purpose furthers the quest for peace. While in Chicago, he also met with British Consul-General Robert Chatterton Dickson to discuss the NATO summit and the UK’s position on security issues facing the Alliance in the twenty-first century.
iRep was not the only youth programme happening in conjunction with the NATO Summit. The Atlantic Council hosted the Young Atlanticist Summit for professionals between the ages of 25 and 35. Elected officials, academics, business leaders, military veterans and more were invited to participate, representing all countries of the NATO Alliance, including the UK–and partner nations such as Australia and Argentina.