About Us
The Defence Forum is an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to facilitating high-level policy dialogue and problem solving across the most pressing defence challenges. We operate as a neutral platform for strategic engagement, ensuring that our discussions are grounded in institutional integrity and the collective security of our allies.
Statement of Principles
Defence Forum Statement of Principles
The Defence Forum, and the Brussels Defence Forum which it convenes, is founded on the following principles. All who take part in the Forum's work — as Director, Advisory Board member, partner, or speaker — are asked to support them.
1. Support for a strong Transatlantic Alliance, for the EU, and for NATO.
2. Support for member state and collective responsibility for the strengthening of the Alliance through robust defence spending.
3. Commitment to operational and technological integration among Allies — recognising that political solidarity must be matched by genuine interoperability, from command-and-control architectures to industrial capacity.
4. Recognition that deterrence today depends as much on the defence-industrial base and emerging technology as on force posture, and that government, industry and innovators must work as partners in delivering it.
5. Support for a Euro-Atlantic Alliance that remains open to, and strengthened by, its democratic partners beyond the treaty area — such as with the Indo-Pacific Four — whose shared interests in deterrence and integration reinforce, rather than dilute, NATO's core mission.
6. Recognition of Ukraine's frontline role, both as a source of hard-won operational lessons and as an active partner in Allied defence-industrial cooperation.
7. Commitment to independent, policy-first, non-partisan analysis, free from the influence of any single government, sponsor, or political party.
8. Commitment to the highest standards of professional integrity, discretion, and mutual respect among all who take part in the Forum's work.
9. Commitment to upholding alliance resilience and values.
10. Support for the European Union as a mobilizing force for defence-industrial capacity-building that services NATO and Transatlantic interests.
Our Team
Founder and Director, Defence Forum
John Hemmings
Dr. John Hemmings is Founder and Director of the Defence Forum. Previously he worked in the US Department of Defense, where he supported the establishment of a multilateral defense industrial working group (PIPIR) and co-designed a multilateral armaments course (MARS). He has previously held research and adjunct roles at RUSI, HJS, and CSIS. In 2019 and 2023, he provided expert testimony to the UK Parliamentary Defence Committee. He is interested in security and defence in the Euro-Atlantic, the Indo-Pacific, and the role of defence industry and emerging technology in capability-development.