SDA co-presidents Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, former NATO Secretary General, and Javier Solana, former EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy will welcome General James L. Jones, Chair of the Brent Scowcroft Center, Atlantic Council of the United States and formerly US National Security Advisor to President Obama, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and Commandant of the US Marine Corps at a gala dinner to mark the SDA’s 10th anniversary as Brussels’ leading security and defence think-tank on Thursday 24th May 2012. Assembled guests will enjoy lively debates with key personalities and a wide range of high-profile people in an informal and entertaining atmosphere.

Building on the conclusions of the SDA's recently released report “Cyber-security: The vexed question of global rules”, this debate examined the international cooperation mechanisms both in place and urgently needed. What obstacles still stand in the way of improving cooperation and what role should be played by international and regional organisations? What are the legal difficulties that stand in the way of greater cyber-security, and how do governments plan to reconcile the rights of citizens with their own concerns over national security?

Join the brainstorming for a broad discussion in the context of ongoing global financial turmoil and ever-present transnational threats ranging from WMD proliferation to drugs and human trafficking, in forums to include:

Capabilities & future technologies • Forging strategic partnerships
Crisis management • Facing up to the cyber-challenge •
Future leaders

The SDA hosted a dinner debate to discuss "Public-private cooperation in cyber-security". Questions asked included: What costs are involved, who will bear them? How much frontline protection should be left to private companies? How good is information-sharing between public institutions and the private sector? Can the creation of new EU-level and international standards improve our cybersecurity, and if so what should these entail? How do we try and create an international fabric of responsibility? Such questions defy easy answers, but all panellists agreed on one basic principal. As Vice President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes stated, “we need to exchange good practices, before we run out of time.”

To mark the launch of the SDA’s in depth policy report "Cyber-security: The vexed question of global rules", SDA Director Giles Merritt and report author Brigid Grauman welcomed a panel of high-level experts to discuss the complex challenges of global governance in cyber-space. The report takes a hard look at the state of play in cyber-security and provides public and private sector decision-makers with food for thought and recommendations for concrete next steps. Among the panel of experts were, Jeff Moss, Vice President and Chief Security Officer of ICANN, Demosthenes Ikonomou, Head of Secure Services & Project Support Activities for the European Network Security Agency, Jamie Shea, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges of NATO, Raj Samani, Vice President and CTO of McAfee Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Intelligence, counter-terrorism and private security stakeholders all rely on the timely and accurate delivery of information to “front-line” staff. In most major security breaches, although relevant data was available it failed to reach the right person in time. Information-sharing to reduce vulnerabilities is vital, so why has intra-European cooperation remained so limited? Do EU and NATO member states mistrust each other when dealing with sensitive security information, or is it security sector rivalries that obstruct cooperation? The Lisbon treaty is meant to unify EU security policies, but coherence on information-sharing remains elusive. How can Europe better harness its information-sharing resources?

The so-called ‘Twitter’ or ‘Web 2.0’ revolutions in the Arab world have sparked fierce debate on the right of governments to shut down the internet. This has been paralleled by criticism of Iran and China for their use of social media to track political protesters and for propaganda. The storage of data on these platforms greatly increases public and private vulnerabilities to attack. Does switching off the internet constitute a breach of freedom of speech, and if so, should the EU develop capabilities to prevent this? Does NATO’s cybersecurity policy include this issue and what kind of actions or sanctions might be considered? Could an EU platform for cooperation between public and private actors contribute to regulating cyberspace, and could such a platform enable governments to stay up to speed with technological developments?

In a wide-ranging discussion, the distinguished panel gave participants an insight to the complex process of coordinating responses to new security challenges. Varied topics such as cyber, critical infrastructure protection and terrorism were the main focus, with numerous specific challenges elaborated. Yet ultimately, as Richard Wright, Director for Conflict Prevention and Security Policy in the European External Action Service stated, the “cross-border and cross-sectoral nature of these challenges” means that “getting in step must include the development of a closer commonality of approaches” then exists today.

Europe's public authorities need to reach out to the private sector to help develop effective responses to today's increasingly complex security threats, the European Union's Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles De Kerchove said Thursday. "We public authorities should do better to identify and make known our needs in the field of security related research," De Kerchove told a conference, co-organised by Security & Defence Agenda and European Organisation for Security. "If Ministries of Interior don't express their views, it's very difficult for the researchers and mainly for the private industry to invest." The conference focused on four main areas of concern: border security, disaster control and civil protection, cyber-security and protecting transport infrastructure. Speakers assessed the need to reduce the fragmentation of Europe's approach to security, examined the role of European institutions and examined ways to dovetail the needs of industry and government.

Cyberattacks in Europe and across the globe are at an all-time high and showing no signs of abating. Remote hijacking of computers for malicious purposes constitute an “electronic epidemic”. Faced with such rapid technological upheaval, European policymakers seem slow to react. During this high level policymakers debate, Mario Campolargo, Director for Emerging Technologies and Infrastructures, European Commission, Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft and Jamie Shea, Deputy Assistant Secretary General, Emerging Security Challenges Division, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) contributed their views on this increasingly important topic.

Natural disasters, terrorist attacks and geopolitical instability, all pose threats to Europe's critical energy infrastructure that could prove disastrous, provoking a cascade effect that could strike other sectors from water supply to the mobile phone network, heard an SDA / EOS roundtable debate. Speakers stressed the need for more investment, closer European co-operation and the development of a more integrated European market that would facilitate flows of energy from one country to another, especially in times of crisis.

On the 7th of December, the SDA welcomed a gathering of EU officials and medical experts to reflect on the H1N1 flu pandemic crisis in 2009. SDA Director Giles Merritt asked the fundamental question, “was this a false alarm, or were we just very lucky?” The participants reactions were diverse, but with an overall agreement that with enhanced preparedness and increased capacity, Europe was learning how to deal with this unpredictable threat.

Opening Security and Defence Day 2010, Belgian Minister of Defence, Pieter De Crem, explained how the current financial climate of austerity and reduced budgets is encouraging the sharing of resources and better levels of cooperation and interoperability. The recent Anglo-French agreement on naval infrastructure is a clear indication of greater rapprochement between member states on security issues, he said.

On January 22, the SDA will hold the first of its annual Member's Lunches at the Bibliothèque Solvay. This private lunch will serve as a brainstorming opportunity for SDA member's to discuss their own policy priorities as well as the SDA's activities for 2008.

Enrique Mora, Head of Cabinet to Javier Solana and Hendrik Schuwer, Head of Cabinet to Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will brief SDA members on upcoming institutional priorities for 2008.

Europe’s ability to respond quickly to global emergencies was brought into sharp focus by major catastrophes like the Asian tsunami, Pakistan earthquake and Hurricane Katrina. The EU’s reconstruction and crisis management capabilities are widely seen by public opinion as inadequate. What, objectively, are Europe’s assessment and response capabilities, and what are the prospects for the disaster relief force suggested by the Barnier report? Would such a unified European force affect the role of ECHO or disaster response-times? How should Europe tackle its present force projection shortcomings, and where would the Community Civil Protection Mechanism fit in? 
 

Europe's security concerns have so far focused chiefly on counter-terrorism policies, but now there is increasing emphasis on the wider external aspects of security, with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy shifting policymakers’ attention to the roots of political extremism around the world. How effectively are the EU’s institutions linking, both internally and with external partners, the many different policy units with an interest in security matters? Is the EU capable of liaising satisfactorily on security with its member governments, NATO and the US authorities, and has it yet begun to fashion an overall security strategy that draws together problems like migration policy and social inclusion as well as relations with major players like Russia, China and the many players in the Middle East? 
 

The overlap between NATO and the EU’s emerging identity has at times been a contentious feature of both the transatlantic and intra-European political debates. But how justified are these concerns? Are US policymakers aware of the ESDP’s potential for promoting global stability through hard as well as soft power, and what do they think of it? Are the strongest supporters of an independent European military capability beginning to acknowledge that NATO is still a flexible and effective instrument for furthering joint transatlantic interests? Because both the EU and NATO face the same pressures – for a more clearly defined security strategy, a serious shortage of resources and to admit Balkans and Black Sea countries as future members – how much new scope is there for complementary policymaking? 
 

Taking place just before NATO’s Riga Summit, this international conference will focus on NATO’s current development in its outreach and partnerships. A recent joint proposal by the US and UK called for renewed thinking of NATO’s global relations, and emphasised the need for strengthened relations with countries which are contributing to NATO missions such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Finland and Sweden. This event will bring together high-level speakers and participants to discuss NATO’s current role in global security and how institutional relations between NATO, the EU, UN and AU can be further strengthened. The conference will also look at lessons learned from Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as responses to new kinds of challenges facing peacekeepers in an era of ‘nation-building’. 

The SDA has held two meetings on Space and security issues, the latest one in autumn 2005 (report can be found in the Publications section). At the October meeting we are looking at issues such as how space-based communications, surveillance and exploration systems like GMES and Galileo are transformed into providers of security technology and military capabilities and what are consequences of enlargement on European space policy. Special attention will be given to the role of the new member states in using space data and space solutions as enabling tools for their policies and how they can contribute to a technological catch-up.  

In June 2005, the SDA organised a roundtable on protecting Europe’s infrastructure against terrorism (the report can be found in the Publications section). Only a few days afterwards, London’s transport system was hit by four near-simultaneous bomb attacks. This was a reminder of the burning importance of critical infrastructure protection. On October 2, the SDA will look at issues such as the coordination of policies at the EU level and private sector involvement, with a close look at energy infrastructure. Dependence on imported energy means that infrastructure protection strategies need to be adapted to meet a wide geographical scope, leading us to ask where the weakest points lie. 

Developments in Asia ‘s global security environment are changing with China and India taking the lead. This has implications for diplomatic relations across the globe, yet a handful of topics are the shared concern of the major players on the international security scene: WMD proliferation, antiterrorism cooperation, the development of emerging technologies and energy security. Is a coherent concept of Asian regional security becoming clearer? What consequences has the ‘war on terror’ had within the region and what are the underlying issues to be addressed? How are apprehensions over energy supplies affecting relations with key oil and gas producing regions and could the growing focus on energy security undermine the future of multilateralism across Asia? 
 

Why do we use military force to solve the world’s political problems? And why do our forces win military battles but still fail to solve those problems? It is because the force used lacks utility. From Iraq to the Balkans, and from Afghanistan to Chechnya, over the past fifteen years there has been a steady stream of military interventions that have not delivered on their promise for peace, or even a political resolution.

 

The NATO Forum is drawing oil, gas, nuclear, and alternative energy providers from across the globe to meet, discuss, and network on the problems and solutions to energy security. Protection of physical infrastructure is but one critical element of this discussion. Enhancing supply, challenges to land and sea transport, new and emerging technologies, and the public policy context of enhancing energy security within a global context will all be discussed at length within the framework of the forum. 

 

This event is hosted by Kenyon International & Oxford Metrica, with the support of the New Defence Agenda 

Space-borne technology holds the answers to many of Europe's most pressing security and counter-terrorism problems. But how hard will it be for major players like the European Space Agency, with limited experience of security issues, to spearhead projects ranging from R&D to interoperability? Are multi-state programmes so difficult to structure and manage that more consideration should be given to single state or bi-lateral programmes? Or does Europe need a new model for operating large, complex space systems?

Heightened preparedness is the best way to discourage terrorist attacks on Europe's national landmarks, business and infrastructural nerve centers. In the U.S., the cost of upgrading first response emergency services to deter non-nuclear terrorist attack is put at $62bn over the coming five years. What needs to be done in Europe, with what cooperative mechanisms and from where will the money come? Are there lessons to be learned from the US experience? 
 

The question marks over NATO’s future date right back to the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, yet the alliance’s credibility with the public has not waned very much, either in its long-time member countries or in the former communist states that have flocked to join. How deep should any future reforms of NATO penetrate? Does NATO suffer from real shortcomings, or are its problems more of image and perception? With a growing role in confronting international terrorism, how far will NATO’s reach stretch? Can it play a significant role in Middle Eastern or Central Asian security?