Second Annual · Whitefish, Montana · Glacier Country
Whitefish
Security
Summit
2027
“Rings of Disruption: The 2027 Threat Landscape”
2027 Threat Actor Framework
The Rings of Disruption
WSS 2027 organizes the global threat landscape around concentric rings of disruption — from near-peer state competitors reshaping the international order, to rogue actors whose asymmetric capabilities punch far above their geopolitical weight.
Inner Ring · Existential Competition
Near-Peer Competitors
China
Russia
Outer Ring · Regional Disruption
Rogue State Actors
North Korea
Iran
Featured Speakers
Voices That Define the Debate
WSS 2027 convenes practitioners, operators, and analysts whose work sits at the hard edge of national security. No green-room speeches. No think-tank boilerplate. The people who’ve been in the room where it happened.
Confirmed Keynote
Executive Director, International Spy Museum · Former NSC
Chris Costa
Executive Director of the International Spy Museum and 35-year veteran of the Department of Defense. Former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council. He ran intelligence and special operations across Panama, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, earning two Bronze Stars for sensitive human intelligence work. Inducted into the U.S. Special Operations Commando Hall of Honor in 2013.
Director, Intelligence Project · Harvard Belfer Center · Former CIA
Mark Pascale
Director of the Intelligence Project at Harvard’s Belfer Center. The only CIA officer in the organization’s history to serve as Chief of Station in three of the most challenging operational environments in the world. Fluent in Arabic, Mandarin, and Russian, he spent 14 years in China, Russia, and Syria, with additional tours throughout the Middle East, East Asia, and the former Soviet Union.
Staff Writer, National Security · The Atlantic
Nancy Youssef
Staff writer at The Atlantic covering national security and the Defense Department, formerly national security correspondent at The Wall Street Journal. A two-decade veteran of frontline reporting from Iraq, Afghanistan, and across the Middle East, she founded the Pentagon Press Association and is a recipient of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for excellence in journalism. Fluent in Arabic.
Full Speaker Roster — Coming Soon
Full Program
Three Days. Fourteen Panels.
Draft agenda — subject to change without notice. Panel topics, sequencing, and speakers may be updated as the program develops.
01
Day One · 4 Panels
Wednesday, February 24
10:00 AM
Black File
Operator’s Room: China’s Gray Zone Playbook
Concurrent with general registration · VIP check-in at door · 60 min
10:00 AM
Registration
General Attendee Check-In & Orientation
60 min
11:00 AM
Welcome
Opening Remarks
15 min
11:15 AM
Keynote
Opening Keynote — Chris Costa
50 min
12:10 PM
Panel 1
Rings of Disruption: The 2027 Threat Landscape
75 min
1:25 PM
Lunch
Lunch — Provided
60 min
2:30 PM
Panel 2
NATO at the Crossroads: Reorganizing for Russian Aggression Without American Cover
75 min
3:45 PM
Break
Break
10 min
3:55 PM
Panel 3
Rare Earths and the Chokehold: China’s Resource Leverage
75 min
5:10 PM
Break
Break
10 min
5:20 PM
Panel 4
The Axis of Resistance: Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Architecture of Regional Disruption
60 min
6:20 PM
Evening
End of Formal Program — Networking & Whitefish Nightlife
On your own
02
Day Two · 5 Panels
Thursday, February 25
9:00 AM
Black File
Operator’s Room: Economic Warfare and Covert Influence
Concurrent with Green File networking · 60 min
9:00 AM
Networking
Green File Morning Networking
60 min
10:00 AM
Panel 5
China’s Periphery: India, Pakistan, and the Sub-Continental Powder Keg
75 min
11:15 AM
Panel 6
Beijing’s Outer Ring: North Korea, Africa, and the Instruments of Indirect Power
75 min
12:30 PM
Lunch
Lunch — Provided
60 min
1:35 PM
Featured Speaker
To Be Announced
50 min
2:30 PM
Panel 7
Russia’s War Machine: Adaptation, Attrition, and the Post-Ukraine Military
75 min
3:45 PM
Break
Break
10 min
3:55 PM
Panel 8
Economic Warfare: Sanctions, Supply Chains, and the Weaponization of Interdependence
75 min
5:15 PM
Panel 9
The Race to AGI: Who’s in the Lead?
75 min
6:30 PM
Evening
End of Formal Program — Networking & Whitefish Nightlife
On your own
03
Day Three · 5 Panels
Friday, February 26
9:00 AM
Black File
Operator’s Room: Russia’s Hybrid Warfare and Unconventional Toolkit
Concurrent with Green File networking · 60 min
9:00 AM
Networking
Green File Morning Networking
60 min
10:00 AM
Panel 10
Asymmetric Threats and the Democratization of Destruction
75 min
11:15 AM
Panel 11
The Arctic: Last Frontier, First Battlefield
75 min
12:30 PM
Lunch
Lunch — Provided
60 min
1:35 PM
Featured Speaker
To Be Announced
50 min
2:30 PM
Panel 12
Soft Power and the Humanitarian Imperative: Aid as Strategic Instrument
75 min
3:45 PM
Break
Break
10 min
3:55 PM
Panel 13
The Intelligence Community at an Inflection Point
75 min
5:15 PM
Panel 14
Iran’s Axis of Disruption: Proxies, Missiles, and the Nuclear Threshold
75 min
6:30 PM
Evening
End of Formal Program — Networking & Whitefish Nightlife
On your own
Black File Only
Operator’s Room · Closed Breakout Sessions
Off-record. Small group. No recordings. Available exclusively to Black File pass holders.
Wed
China’s Gray Zone Playbook
Thu
Economic Warfare and Covert Influence
Fri
Russia’s Hybrid Warfare and Unconventional Toolkit
Registration
Secure Your Position
200 seats total. No exceptions. Early bird pricing — 20% off, limited to 40 tickets — closes when they’re gone.
Early Bird Available
Green File Pass
Standard Access
$800
$640 early
Standard · Early Bird saves $160
- ◆ Full three-day summit access
- ◆ All panels and keynotes
- ◆ Meals and receptions
- ◆ Morning PT
- ◆ Summit program and materials
Early Bird Available
Black File Pass
Full Access
$1,600
$1,280 early
Premium · Early Bird saves $320
- ◆ Everything in Green File
- ◆ 3 Operator’s Room breakout sessions
- ◆ Off-record · no recordings · Chatham House rules
- ◆ Priority seating at all sessions
- ◆ Black File dinner
Early Bird · Limited to 40 Tickets
20% discount applied automatically at checkout for the first 40 registrants — 20 Green File, 20 Black File. Standard pricing takes effect immediately after. Summit capacity is capped at 200 total attendees.
About the Summit
A Forum Built for the Conversations That Matter
The Whitefish Security Summit returns for its second annual gathering — convening senior leaders in defense, intelligence, geopolitics, and security innovation for three days of frank, substantive conversation in the unspoiled clarity of Glacier Country, Montana.
No vendor booths. No political theater. No green-room speeches. Just the decision-makers, operators, and thinkers whose work defines how America and its allies navigate an era of consequential risk — in the same room, away from the noise of their capitals.
Organized in partnership with the Lobo Institute.
Defense & Intelligence
Senior military leaders and intelligence officers engaging the hard problems at the classified seam.
Geopolitics & Statecraft
Diplomats and strategic thinkers examining great-power competition and the fracturing international order.
Technology & Warfare
From autonomous systems and AI to cyber operations — practitioners reshaping the character of modern conflict.
Private Sector
Executives, investors, and founders whose work at the intersection of security and commerce drives the enterprise forward.