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SDA's sister think-tank, Friends of Europe, is a prominent and lively Brussels-based think-tank for EU policy analysis and debate.

NATO's European dimension
Report from annual NATO conference 

 

SDA presents the conclusions of the 8th annual NATO Conference, in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, which brought together a high level panel of experts to debate the NATO-EU relationship in a changing global security environment.

The paper includes discussion of NATO's current outlook and the future of the alliance, whether transatlantic defence procurement is a 'two-way street' and the implications of better coordination in Afghanistan.

Also included is the transcript of a keynote speech given by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General of NATO, at the conference on the theme of "Security in an Era of Budgetary Scarcity".

The paper highlights recommendations for a more modern alliance such as drawing from the experience of member states in the face of economic austerity and pooling defence procurement and multinational industrial cooperation.


Download a copy of the report here

Fine-tuning EU border security
Roundtable Debate

29 September 2010


Europe's free movement of people and the borderless Shengen zone has seen a growing emphasis on policing the EU's external borders. But it is far from clear whether the policy responses of national governments and of the EU institutions themselves have been cost-effective or indeed effective at all.

‘What methods seem best suited to stemming illegal immigration and addressing organised criminal activities like drug smuggling and human trafficking? With EU policymakers concerned to standardise practices that range from the repatriation of undesirables to personal passenger data, what level of EU-wide coordination is desirable? Are the EU institutions giving a clear political lead on a future European border strategy?

Keynote speakers will include Stefano Manservisi, Director General for Home Affairs at the European Commission, and Executive Director of FRONTEX, Brig. Gen. Ilkka Laitinen. Sessions will focus on the strategic aims of border control and issues of EU-wide coordination.

See more information about this event

The Security & Defence Agenda (SDA) is based in the Bibliothèque Solvay in the Parc Léopold next to the European Parliament.

The building houses the SDA team and serves as the venue for almost all SDA events in Brussels.

© Security & Defence Agenda

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Protecting the Global Commons 
Roundtable, 16 September 2010 

This roundtable debate, held in cooperation with the Atlantic Council of the United States and NATO ACT, will seek to define NATO’s and Europe’s roles in protecting the global commons as well as identifying the key political, policy and operational challenges. In a world where space, maritime and cyber domains are increasingly vital, this SDA roundtable will discuss the strategic and contextual implications for the Alliance. Topics for discussion will include militarization of space, maritime security threats and the prevention of cyber warfare. Do the United States and Europe share a common vision? Could a legal framework for cyberspace resolve complex jurisdiction issues or would lack of traceability impede the effective implementation of any such rules? The roundtable will seek to provide answers to these questions.

See the programme.


NATO strategy “ineffectual” and “misguided”, says Afghan President
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has branded NATO’s counter-insurgency “ineffectual”. “The experience from the last eight years shows that fighting in Afghan villages is not effective and only causes civilian casualties,” he said. While stressing that the government remains committed to a significant NATO troop presence, he also demanded that international forces stop invasive night raids on residents' homes and distance their soldiers from "the daily life of the people.”

Madeleine Albright
Former US
Secretary of State

 

Margot Wallström
Former Vice President of the European Commission

 

Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega
Spanish First Vice President of the Government

 

Lt. Gen. David Leakey Director General of the EU Military Staff

 

Jamie Shea
Director for Policy Planning, Private Office of the Secretary General of NATO

 

Recep Tayyip Erdogan 
Prime Minister of Turkey

 

Benita
Ferrero-Waldner
Former European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy

 

Zhe Song
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the EU

 

Antonios Chatzidakis
General Manager, NAMSA, NATO

 

Admiral James Stavridis
Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR)

 

Ana Maria Gomes
MEP and Vice Chairwoman, Committee on Security & Defence, European Parliament

 

General Stéphane Abrial
NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation
(Jam Participant)

 

Carl Bildt
Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs
(Jam Participant)

 

Marc Perrin de Brichambaut
Secretary General, OSCE
(Jam Participants)

 

Anne-Marie Slaughter
Director of Policy Planning, United States Department of State
(Jam Participants)

 

Geoffrey Van Orden
MEP, SubCommittee on Security and Defence, European Parliament

 

Kai Eide
UN Special Representative to Afghanistan, UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
(Jam Participant)

 

Vladimir Chizhov
Ambassador, Mission of the Russian Federation to the EU

 

Gen. Håkan Syrén
Chairman of European Military Committee (EUMC)
(Jam Participant)

 

François Gayet
Secretary General of the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD)

 

Dmitry Rogozin
Ambassador, Mission of the Russian Federation to NATO

 

Alyson Bailes
Visiting Professor, University of Iceland

 

Peter Weilemann
European Office Director, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

 

Stefanie Babst
Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, NATO

 

Jean-François Bureau
Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, NATO

 

Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry
Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee

 

Admiral Giampaolo di Paola
Chairman of the Military Committee, NATO

 

Commander Snowy Lintern
Liaison Officer of the EU Naval Force in Somalia

 

Shirin Ebadi
2003 Nobel Peace Prize Winner