Summer 2012 - Vol 2, Issue 6
*Please note that the next newsletter will be sent in September*

2011-12 Academic Year draws to a close

The GCSP concluded last week a successful academic year with the graduation ceremony of the 13th New Issues in Security Course (NISC) on 4 July. The NISC included unprecedented participation from both North and South Korea in the same class. In all GCSP principal training courses the trend of global participation continued this year with the GCSP welcoming this year for the first time participants from Argentina, Oman, the Seychelles and Turkmenistan. The 26th International Training Course in Security Policy (ITC) concluded on 13 June with 30 participants from 26 countries graduating. 20 candidates from the ITC also graduated from the Master of Advanced Studies in International and European Security (MAS) and received a diploma from the European Institute of the University of Geneva.

Training activities continue over the summer period at the GCSP with, for example, (1) an online course on the NPT and Disarmament (mentioned above), (2) a course on non-traditional security threats for the UN Department of Political Affairs in New York and (3) the 13th Swiss Peacebuilding Training Course (with the FDFA, swisspeace and SWISSINT). The GCSP Course Schedule for 2012 presents all GCSP training courses being offered and is available here.

 

 

Strengthening our cooperation with the OSCE 

 

In view of the Swiss Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2014, and in the context of strengthening the Centre's cooperation with the OSCE, the GCSP has undertaken a number of activities. In May, Ambassador Fred Tanner, Director of the GCSP, addressed the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation in Vienna. The objective of his presentation was to provide representatives with an outside view of how the security environment has changed over the last decade, which was profoundly marked by the process of globalization. His speech focused on the strategic challenges for the European continent, and for the OSCE more specifically.

 

In addition, Dr Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, Head of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, was invited to address the OSCE Annual Security Review Conference 2012 that was held in Vienna from 26 to 28 June. This event brought together high-level participants from 56 OSCE participating States and international/regional organizations who discussed security matters of shared concern, related to transnational threats and challenges, arms control and confidence-and security-building measures, engagement with OSCE partners for Cooperation in the Mediterranean and Asian Regions, as well as conflict prevention and resolution. 

 

Finally, on 25 May, Ambassador Heidi Grau, Head of the Taskforce of the Swiss Chairmanship of the OSCE, visited the Centre and met with a panel of GCSP experts, including Ambassador Fred Tanner, to discuss the forthcoming Swiss Chairmanship and how the GCSP could actively contribute to it.

 

 

The Philippines joins the GCSP Foundation Council

 

The GCSP is very pleased to announce the membership of the Philippines in the GCSP Foundation Council. The Philippines joins 43 other member states, plus the Canton of Geneva, on the Council to bring membership to 45. In recent years membership in the Council has grown to include the North Africa (Morocco and Egypt) and Asia (China and India). We are very pleased that the Philippines has taken this step and we look forward to intensifying our cooperation. The representative on the Council will be the Director of the Foreign Service Institute, Department of Foreign Affairs, Manila.

 

Upcoming Training Courses

16 July - 16 September: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Disarmament Online Course. The eight-week course is designed to familiarise participants with the provisions, history and complexities of the NPT and its relationship to disarmament in particular. Each week of the course is structured around one of the major themes of the NPT, and provides a detailed analysis of the corresponding Treaty provisions.

 

21-23 August: 8th Annual Professional Training Course on "Responding to Non-traditional Security Threats and their Impact on Democracy-Building and Peace", New York. The GCSP-UNDPA joint programme is intended for senior UNDPA officials and aims at enhancing understanding of the pre-eminent non-traditional security threats, and developing capacity critically to analyse and effectively to respond to new threats and challenges, concentrating on UNDPA's core mandate of preventing and mediating conflict, and building peace.

 

26 August - 7 September: 13th Swiss Peacebuilding Training Course. The GCSP offers a two-week training course on peacebuilding on behalf of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) for members of the Swiss Expert Pool for Civilian Peacebuilding (SEP) and selected international participants. This course will be run in partnership with Swisspeace, the Swiss Peace Foundation, and SWISSINT, the Swiss Armed Forces International Command. The Swiss Peacebuilding Training Course provides interactive training including theoretical and practical aspects of peacebuilding.

 

10-12 September: 5th Annual Senior Officers Seminar (ASOS). The GCSP will host the 5th Annual Senior Officers Seminar for Flag Officers from NATO, PfP, Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Countries, as well as for South Asian, East Asian, and African countries.The seminar offers a unique professional development and networking opportunity for Flag Officers and high level experts to engage with experts and practitioners of the highest quality and to discuss the current developments and challenges of today and future inter-agency and multilateral operations. The seminar will also be addressed by Lieutenant General Arne Bård Dalhaug, Commandant, NATO Defense College (NDC), Rome, who will be at the GCSP on a working visit.  

 

24-27 September: GCSP Summer Workshop 2012: "The European Union and Crisis Management Operations: Towards More Strategic Thinking". The workshop is targeted to PhD candidates and post-doctoral fellows working on EU security policy, with a focus on inter-institutional cooperation and exit strategies in the broad field of crisis management. It provides a platform for scholarly exchange - giving participants an opportunity to showcase their research and receive feedback on findings and research methodologies. The workshop is sponsored by the European Commission through the COST Action IS0805.

 

24-28 September: Core Training Workshop on Evaluating Conflict, Security and Development. Organized in partnership with GICHD, DCAF/ISSAT, SAS, and IPDET, this training workshop introduces practitioners and policymarkers to project design, monitoring and evaluation in the fields of security and peacebuilding.

 

11 October 2011 - 13 June 2012: 26th International Training Course in Security Policy. See News section above.