March 2012 - Vol 2, Issue 3

The GCSP regularly provides opportunities for constructive exchanges in an informal setting on international peace and security issues that require attention. On the 27th of March the GCSP's Middle East and North Africa Programme, with support from the PeaceNexus Foundation, was able to provide such an opportunity for a high-level international discussion on the crisis in Syria. This international roundtable brought together diplomats (from the region, from the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council, and beyond), international experts and the humanitarian community for a discussion that sought to identify constructive avenues of international engagement on Syria. The meeting generated rich debates on the nature of the crisis playing out in Syria, its international repercussions, and potential ways out. Follow up to the focused exchange is being considered by GCSP with partners, including the Doha Brookings Center.



The GCSP had the great honour to welcome General Sir Richard Shirreff, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) and Lieutenant General Arto Räty, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of Finland to the GCSP on 28 March 2012. They addressed the International Geneva community at a public discussion on the topic of "Unity of Purpose in 21st Century Hybrid Conflicts - Managing the Civilian Military Disconnect". A summary of this event will be available shortly on the GCSP website. The visit of the DSACEUR follows the visit of SACEUR, Admiral James G. Stavridis to the GCSP in June 2010 and provides an opportunity for a discussion with DSACEUR on issues of common interest with the GCSP, and Switzerland.

The visit of General Räty provided the GCSP with an opportunity to reinforce its long-standing and excellent cooperation with Finland, a GCSP Foundation Council member since the Centre's founding in 1995. The GCSP currently counts a Finnish diplomat as part of its resident faculty, welcomes regularly course participants from Finland, receives direct support from Finland for projects (most recently training for Afghans) and cooperates with the Finnish government on disarmament issues.



The 16th ETC came to a close on 22 March 2012 after eleven-weeks. The graduation ceremony included an insightful keynote address by H. E. Mr Renatas Norkus, Ambassador of Lithuania to the Russian Federation on his reflections on Lithuania's OSCE Chairmanship. The 16th ETC, directed by Dr Gustav Lindstrom and Col (GS) Arnold Teicht, welcomed twenty-two participants from twenty-one countries, including from countries outside of the Euro-Atlantic area such as Argentina, Egypt and Tunisia. We wish the graduates of the 16th ETC continued success in their future endeavours, and look forward to our continued contact with them as alumni.

Expert Training Modules - APPLY NOW!

 

26 February - 1 March: 8th Defence Attaché Orientation Module. This Annual Training Module was dedicated to training of defence officials working in a multilateral environment (such as Defence Attachés).

GCSP Alumni Security Policy Conference: On the Cutting Edge of International Security Geneva, 11-12 October 2012

The 2012 GCSP Alumni Security Policy Conference provides a compact and authoritative update on current developments and future trends in international security. In addition to providing an overview of global trends, the 2012 event focuses on challenges they pose to states' security policies. In particular, the rise of trans-nationalism, which is further empowering various non-state actors, is becoming a game-changer in the international system. Governments face an international environment characterised by ever more complex competition between a range of actors - states, multinational companies and criminal organisations, for example. This complexity challenges the integrity and relevance of established cooperative global and regional multilateral arrangements as embodied by the UN and EU, financial bodies (e.g. World Bank) and groupings (e.g. G20) and institutions of international security in general.

 

The conference programme includes high-level presentations, expert panel discussions as well as interactive workshops which aim to make use of the participants' own rich professional experience. Importantly, the schedule of the 2012 GCSP Alumni Security Policy Conference aims to allow sufficient opportunities for effective networking among the participants - which will include GCSP alumni, incumbent ITC-27 participants, Foundation Council representatives, Advisory Board members, and staff.

 

The GCSP Alumni Security Policy Conference: On the Cutting Edge of International Security will take place at the GCSP from 11 to 12 October 2012. Deadline for registration is 14 September 2012. For more details and registration, please click here.