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February 2011
February 2011 - Vol 1, Issue 2
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News
Training
Events
Research and Publications
Visiting Fellows
Alumni
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Highlight

Revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East

 

The situation across North Africa and the Middle East is evolving daily as a wave of protests demanding change continues, following the historical events of the past weeks in Tunisia and Egypt. The GCSP is committed to offering opportunities to understand the implications of these important events:  

Curricula have also been adjusted to give course participants the most up-to-date information and analysis. A most timely module on the Mediterranean will take place 7-10 March in the International Training Course in Security Policy (ITC), followed by a module on the Middle East from 14-15 March in the European Training Course in Security Policy (ETC). 

News 

Opportunities for Professional Training at the GCSP

 

Throughout the year, the GCSP is pleased to offer a series of expert training modules, led and taught by the Centre's international faculty, with contributions from expert guest speakers. During the period March to May 2011, the following modules are available and currently accepting applications:

For information on registration, and for the full 2011 Course Calendar, please consult the GCSP website. 



New Social Media for Friends and Alumni of the GCSP 

 

The GCSP continues to develop social media tools that will make it easy for friends of the GCSP and our global alumni community to stay in touch. Our goal is to connect all GCSP course alumni to each other and to the GCSP in mutually beneficial ways.

 

As such, the GCSP launched its official Twitter account and Facebook Page where visitors and fans can follow our latest activities, apply for specialized training courses, download publications, view photo albums, watch videos, and more! For videos of conferences, briefings and expert interviews, tune in to the GCSP's YouTube Channel. 

 

We are also pleased to announce that the GCSP has an official company profile and a GCSP Alumni Group on LinkedIn, the most widely trusted professional networking site, with over 90 million members in more than 200 countries and territories. The alumni group was created for all GCSP alumni to connect, reconnect and network (membership is subject to approval by the GCSP).

Training

GCSP Training Courses Visit Brussels and Alumni Dinner

 

Ambassador Pierre Vimont, Executive Secretary-General, European External Action Service, European UnionFrom 7 to 10 February 2011, the 52 participants of the 25th International Training Course in Security Policy (ITC) and the 15th European Training Course in Security Policy (ETC) travelled to Brussels, Belgium, and received briefings from a number of high level speakers at the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Defence Agency and the European Parliament. They also visited Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons and were kindly hosted by the Royal High Institute for Defence in Brussels. Two keynote speeches were delivered: Ambassador Pierre Vimont, Executive Secretary-General, European External Action Service, European Union on "The Implications of European External Action Service on the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)" and Ambassador Jean-Jacques de Dardel, the Swiss Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and the Head of the Swiss Mission to NATO on NATO Partnerships. Ambassador Vimont delivered his speech in the context of an annual alumni dinner at Club Prince Albert, which was also attended by VIP guests and Brussels-based GCSP alumni community. 

 

 

Upcoming Courses

2011 Course Schedule 

A complete list of GCSP course offerings is now available online!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to the courses already mentioned above, the GCSP is delighted to present the following courses: 

 

27 February - 3 March 2011: The GCSP will run the 7th Annual Defence Attach� Orientation Module that aims at improving the skills of defence officials and providing a strong basis for their future professional challenges as Defence Attach�s. For further information, please click here.

 

28 February - 3 March 2011: The GCSP will run the Expert Training Modules on Arms Control and Disarmament open to the public. For more information about these modules, please click here.


21 - 25 March 2011: Swiss Professional Officers Training Course (SPOT) will take place at the GCSP for the seventh time. Its objective is the transfer of knowledge and the broadening of the conceptual understanding of international security issues with special reference to questions related to global and regional security, the role of states and international institutions in conflict management and peace building. For further information, please contact Mr Thierry Randon ([email protected])

 

*APPLY NOW*  

11 - 14 July 2011: Summer Workshop entitled "The EU in the World: Towards Global Partnerships in Peace Operations" is targeted to PhD candidates and post-doctoral fellows working on EU security policy, with a focus on inter-institutional cooperation in the broad field of crisis management. The workshop aims to provide a platform for scholarly exchange, by giving participants an opportunity to present and get feedback on their current research. The workshop consists of a series of presentations made by participants on the workshop theme, and includes guest speakers' lectures. For further information about the workshop and to apply, please click here

 

 

Past Courses

 

13 - 17 December 2010: The Defence Leadership in Building Integrity Foundation Course took place in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of this course is "to strengthen the foundation for leadership, integrity, good governance and management within the defence and security sector by sharing experiences, challenges, and best practice between nations, whether established, transitional or developing, to enhance professionalism". The responsibility of teaching is shared between GCSP, Transparency International, PSOTC, the Swedish Defence Academy and external experts.

 

Group Photo23 - 28 January 2011: Training Course in Diplomacy and Security Policy for Military Personnel on New Trends in Global and Regional Security was organised by the GCSP in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Macedonia in Skopje, Macedonia. The course was attended by 22 participants (from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia), and covered various topics on the global and regional security environment, including 'Dynamics and Challenges of the Global Security Environment', 'Regional Geostrategic Assessments of Europe and the Western Balkans' as well as more traditional issues such as Peacekeeping, Terrorism and Organised Crime.

 

Events

Upcoming Events   

 

9 March 2011: The GCSP will organise a Public Discussion entitled "An Arab Spring: Revolution and Revolt in North Africa?" Speakers will include Professor George Joff�, former Deputy Director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London, Dr Yahia H. Zoubir, Professor of International Relations & International Management at Euromed Marseille Ecole de Management, and Dr Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, GCSP Associate Fellow, and Visiting Professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. For further information, please click here.

 

11 March 2011: GCSP - Egmont Institute - IRSEM Working Group Meeting: "Europe Deploys - Towards a Civil-Military Strategy for CSDP" will be the second meeting of an international working group of practitioners and academics. The working group is in the process of authoring a policy paper on the need for a strategy for the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The paper will highlight priority regions for the EU and issues on which such a strategy should focus--examining the implications of those recommendations for the tasks, capabilities, and procedures of CSDP.  For more information on the project, please contact Dr Gustav Lindstrom ([email protected]).

 

18 March 2011: GPP Public Discussion: "Towards Capable and Responsive States: Guidance for Better International Engagement in Situations of Conflict and Fragility" will take place at Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP) on March 18, 2011. It will focus on the OECD DAC Guidance on Statebuilding that provides new thinking on statebuilding, clear recommendations for better practice, and an internationally accepted conceptual framework for statebuilding. For further information and to register, please click here.

 

 

Past Events

 

Nonviolent Peaceforce2 February 2011: GPP Discussion on Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping in South Sudan, Philippines and Sri Lanka - Experiences from the Nonviolent Peaceforce. The speakers included Mr Atif Hameed, Nonviolent Peaceforce Country Director, Philippines, and Ms Tiffany Easthom, Nonviolent Peaceforce Country Director, South Sudan. They shared analysis on current conflict context, civilian protection needs and how unarmed civilian peacekeeping is an effective, relevant complement to and alternative for force protection. The discussion was chaired by Dr Caty Cl�ment, Head of the Conflict and Peacebuilding Programme, GCSP.  

 

 

Panel Photo9 February 2011: The GCSP, in partnership with DiploFoundation, hosted an E-Diplomacy Briefing on Diplomatic Reporting in the Internet Era after WikiLeaks. The Panel was composed of Ambassador Kishan Rana, former Indian diplomat, Ambassador Victor Camilleri, Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations in Geneva, and Mr Philippe Mottaz, Director of World Radio Switzerland (WRS). The event was moderated by Mr Marc Finaud, Special Advisor to the Director of GCSP, and Dr Jovan Kurbalija, Founding Director of DiploFoundation. In addition to the on-site meeting, an on-line forum took place and included participants from many countries and diplomatic students in Malta.

 

Panel Photo 10 February 2011: The GPP Policy Briefing on The UN Mission in Iraq: Current Challenges  was introduced by Dr Caty Cl�ment, Head of the Conflict and Peacebuilding Programme, GCSP, and chaired by Mr Alan Doss, GCSP Visiting Fellow and Former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Ad Melkert, examined the present role of the UN Mission in Iraq and reflected on the country's remaining peacebuilding challenges.

 

Ambassador Laura E. Kennedy16 February 2011: The GCSP organised a Public Discussion on Arms Control and Disarmament Challenges to discuss a new set of challenges and opportunities for the international arms control and disarmament community. The keynote speaker was Ambassador Laura E. Kennedy, Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the Conference on Disarmament, and Special Representative for Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention Issues. The discussion was chaired by Ambassador J�rg Lauber, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament, and Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations. The welcome address was delivered by Ambassador Fred Tanner, Director of the GCSP.

Research and Publications 

New Publications


The GCSP is proud to announce the publication of its first Policy Paper in French:  

 

GCSP Policy Paper n�10 

Policy Paper n�10: Le maintien de la paix � robuste �. Contraintes politiques et op�rationnelles, by Thierry Tardy.





This publication, and all Policy Papers and Geneva Papers, are available for download on the  GCSP website. If you would like a hardcopy of a Geneva Paper, please contact us at [email protected].  

Visiting Fellows

New Visiting Fellow:

 

Brigadier General Dr Walter Feichtinger

Director of the Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management, National Defence Academy 

 

Brigadier General Dr Walter Feichtinger

Brigadier General Dr Walter Feichtinger joined the GCSP as a Visiting Fellow on 1 February 2011 for a duration of two months. This appointment is a pilot project that is the result of a Letter of Intent signed between the GCSP and the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Vienna in 2010. With over 200 employees, the NDA is the highest and most prestigious training and research institution of the Austrian Armed Forces. In addition to training military officers, the Academy also offers a course for strategic leaders. The NDA's focus is on teaching, research and language training.


Walter Feichtinger is a Brigadier General of the Austrian Armed Forces served as security and military policy counselor at the Federal Chancellery and has been Secretary General of the Austrian Armed Officers Association from 2001 to 2005. He has extensively published during his career. The main purposes of his joining the GCSP are the following: to identify areas to strengthen the cooperation between our two institutions; conduct research on the nexus of climate change, demographic change and security and the future challenges for international crisis management; and interact with various institutions and experts of International Geneva.


Testimonial

"I am fascinated by the GCSP, its work and its staff, which is doing an extraordinary job at a very high level. Since I arrived, I sensed the incredible atmosphere between my new colleagues, and this is, in my view, the most important precondition for good work. What I did not expect, but found at the Centre, was such close contact with high level experts. On 10 February, I attended the GCSP's Public Discussion on "The UN Mission in Iraq: Current Challenges" and I was impressed by the remarkable quality of the debate, most notably Mr Ad Melkert's remarks as Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq".


- Brigadier General Dr Walter Feichtinger

Alumni

GCSP Alumnus Profile:  

 

Major General Bernhard BAIR (Austria) 

Commander, EUFOR BiH (Operation Althea)

 

Major General Bernhard BAIR (Austria), Commander, EUFOR BiH (Operation Althea)Major General Bernhard Bair assumed command of EUFOR BiH in December 2009. Prior to taking command of Operation Althea, he was Commander, Joint Service Support Command of the Austrian Armed Forces, from December 2002. With extensive logistics and staff experience Major General Bair has served in different national and international appointments. From 1976-79, Major General Bair completed his officer training at the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt. His military education has included the General Staff Course at the National Defence Academy in Vienna from 1985-88 and the European Training Course in Security Policy (ETC) at the GCSP in 1999. Later he successfully completed the General, Flag Officers and Ambassador's Course in Rome, Italy. In 1981 Major General Bair served with the Austrian Battalion (AUSBATT) as part of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). In 1999, for over three years, he served as Defence Attach� in Zagreb, Croatia and simultaneously as the non-resident Defence Attach� to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Testimonial  

"In my opinion the GCSP provided an excellent opportunity to meet fellow professionals in the area of security policy. I found all the training to be of the highest quality and the course certainly stimulated me to think in new ways on how security issues, international relations and military command are linked. I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to experience the GCSP and their excellent method".

 

- Major General Bernhard Bair