In December of 1951, at a time of high tension in Europe, representatives from twelve nations met in Paris and agreed to create a new, international center dedicated to peaceful nuclear research. Three years later, it officially launched in Switzerland as the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, or CERN. Its members included two former Axis countries (West Germany and Italy) along with Yugoslavia and the United Kingdom, all treated as equals. European politicians applauded a project that prevented brain drain to the United States; scientists celebrated the opportunity to collaborate on some of the biggest questions in physics.

People in Brussels attend a memorial for the Ukrainian children who have been forcibly taken to Russia.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian soldiers have forcibly taken an estimated 16,000 Ukrainian children to Russia. Over 300 children have since returned home, but it is not clear what happened to most of the rest.

The gathering in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, comes at a pivotal moment for the Western security alliance – it is seeking to expand membership and confront challenges ranging from the ongoing war in Ukraine to a perceived growing military threat from China.