On November 5, 2014, GMF’s Warsaw office hosted a roundtable lunch discussion with Ambassador Daniel Fried, who has devoted most of his career to designing and implementing U.S. policy to advance freedom and security in Central and Eastern Europe, NATO enlargement and the Russia-NATO relationship.

The conversation was part of GMF’s Legacy of ’89 series, which marks 25 years since the political transformations across Europe starting with the post-communist government in Poland and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The project brings together intellectuals, former and current government officials and members of the media for reflection, stocktaking and innovative policy prescriptive conversations amongst the transatlantic and pan-European communities.

During the most recent lunch discussion, participants reflected on the parallels between the developments in Poland before and after the 1989 elections, and the current situation in Ukraine. They concluded that those 25 years of political transformations are now being challenged by Russia, and that a common transatlantic policy based on three pillars – pressure; resilience and resistance; diplomacy and engagement – provides the only credible path forward in meeting that challenge.