27th Parliamentary-Intelligence Security Forum – Linking Indo-Pacific to Euro/Atlantic
The Honorable Cristian Bacanu framed his remarks around the idea of democracies facing a defining “finest hour,” invoking Winston Churchill’s warning that freedom must be defended or risk descending into darkness. He argued that just as victory in World War II ushered in decades of prosperity under U.S. leadership, today’s escalating great-power competition will determine the future political and economic order.
He described the current moment as a new Cold War, broader and more complex than the twentieth-century confrontation. While democracies still speak of a rules-based order, he said adversaries such as Russia and China are rapidly expanding military capabilities and reshaping the global agenda, with Iran and North Korea reinforcing regional instability. This rivalry extends beyond military power into economic dominance, supply chains, advanced technologies such as microchips and quantum research, rare minerals, media influence, and disinformation.
Bacanu stressed that the West was slow to adapt after the Cold War and must now respond with clarity and unity. Echoing Ronald Reagan’s “we win, they lose” approach, he called for stronger alignment among NATO members led by the United States, alongside Asian democracies including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. He urged higher defense spending, greater democratic resilience, coordinated supply-chain strategies, and deeper cooperation in security, trade, and technological innovation.
Citing recent incidents in the Philippines’ waters and destabilization efforts in Moldova, he warned that hybrid warfare, political interference, and coercive economic tactics are already underway. He concluded that only through united action, strategic honesty, and renewed alliance leadership can democracies secure the century ahead and rise to what he described as their next finest hour.
