During NATO's Lisbon Summit in 2010, the NATO member states announced that the responsibility for ensuring Afghanistan's security would be transferred to the Afghan forces as of 2011 and that the objective was to withdraw the bulk of ISAF troops from the country by the end of 2014. At their Chicago Summit on 20-21 May 2012, the Allies confirmed the end 2014 deadline for the termination of NATO's combat mission in Afghanistan. From that time on the Afghan authorities will therefore take full responsibility for their country's security. However, numerous questions remain unanswered: will the Afghan National Security Forces be ready to take full charge of the mission by the end of 2014? What will be Afghanistan's political governance in the medium and long term? How will the situation evolve for Afghan women? What lessons will the UN, NATO and the EU learn from their ongoing actions in Afghanistan? Is there a role for them in tomorrow's Afghanistan?

For more information, please see the press release attached below.

Each year, ISIS Europe organises the Brussels launch of the annual Peace Report published by four leading German institutes for Peace and Conflict Studies.The Peace Report 2012 focuses on the global power transitions from the Atlantic towards the Pacific and their consequences for German and European peace politics. The transatlantic alliance’s global dominance is diminishing. In addition, power is increasingly shifting from state towards non-state actors. The Peace Report 2012 will shed light on the insecurities which arise from these two dimensions of the current global power shifts, it will analyse and judge their violent and peaceful consequences and outline political solutions.

In times of multinational crisis-management and peace-keeping missions, caring for returning soldiers and veterans is necessary. While some countries have long traditions of veteran care, others are still in search of adequate policies. The increased integration of women in the armed forces, supported by the plea for gender mainstreaming in the security sector, raised new questions regarding the need to adapt veteran policies to this demographical change.

Ms. Henrion will introduce female veterans’ issues of concern with the general veteran policy in the Armed forces as backdrop. Ms. Gya will share her knowledge and experience of gender mainstreaming and women’s needs in the security sector. The following discussion aims at raising the following questions: Do female soldiers and veterans need gender-specific services and care? How can female veterans be more at risk than male? What measures should be adopted? And how can we ensure their implementation? We hope that the identified needs and gaps will serve as basis for further research and reflection. EUROMIL will continue to defend and promote the interests and fundamental rights of military personnel.

A series of briefing paper: "Communicate, Coordinate and Cooperate - Cohering Crisis Management in the post-Lisbon Era."

This event, to be host by MEP Ana Maria Gomes, will present the next two draft papers on EU and mediation, by Antje Herrberg, and EU partners, by Richard Gowan.

Registration form below.

Each year, ISIS Europe organises the annual Brussels launch of the Peace Report produced by five leading German universities. The Peace Report 2011 takes stock of the revolutionary upheavals that have rocked the Arab world since late 2010. These events have surprised the European body politic. What does this say about the European Union? The Peace Report considers causes and discusses consequences.

For more information please see the Concept Note attached.

Sarwar A. Kashmeri, Senior Fellow of the Transatlantic Council (DC), Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association (NY) and ISIS Europe Senior Advisor, will present his new book "NATO 2.0 - Reboot or Delete?". 
The book launch will take place on 15 June at 10:30-12:00 in the Danube room at the International Press Centre, Boulevard Charlemagne 1, 1041 Brussels.

Joint ISIS Europe/FRIDE event. Chair, Giovanni Grevi, Brussels office FRIDE. Presentation of policy brief by ISIS Europe Executive Director Giji Gya. Responders: Richard Wright, Director Conflict Prevention and Security Policy, EEAS, and Miguel Ceballos Baron, Chief Economist, Global Europe Strategy - Trade Policy Strategy, European Commission.

The seminar will provide an opportunity
- to take stock of discussions on NATO’s nuclear policy around Europe
- to consider NATO’s future nuclear posture in the context of discussion about a strategic
missile defense system for the Alliance, and NATO-Russia relations
- to debate NATO’s role in nuclear arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation.

A series of dialogues to discuss how EU military and civilian crisis management missions are affecting those they are sent to assist. In the framework of CSDP MAP, these dialogues (Chatham House rules and by invite only) are designed to initiate and foster an ongoing exchange of views between CSDP MAP (including experience and voices from the ground) and Ambassadors from mission host countries on how missions are perceived.

- The second dialogue in the "Perspectives on CSDP" series brought together Ambassadors and high-ranking diplomats from Afghanistan, Georgia and Somalia, CSDP MAP partners and other civil society representatives and was supported by DCAF.  

- The initial dialogue in the "Perspectives on CSDP" series instigated "phase three" of CSDP MAP, bringing together H.E. Osman Topcagic, Ambassador of BiH to the EU and H.E. Ilir Dugolli, Ambassador of Kosovo to Belgium with CSDP MAP representatives and other senior experts. This inaugural session was supported by DCAF and the Network for Social Change.

http://www.csdpmap.eu/events

The Alliance is approaching ten years of challenging military operations in 
Afghanistan and has recently been weathering internal, divisive debates over its central strategic mission. The 2009 NATO Summit in Strasbourg-Kehl tasked the Secretary General with preparing a new Strategic Concept for the 
Alliance, deliverable at the November 2010 Lisbon Summit. To support the development of this document, an international Group of Experts chaired by former 
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was established (and set out its recommendations in May) and an eight month process of conferences and consultations was also set in motion. 

How will the much-anticipated new Strategic Concept respond to an increasingly globalised world with emerging new challenges, manage internal divisions in an enlarged organization of 28 member states and cope with external threats? Will it set out a convincing and coherent vision, representative of its members? The conflict in 
Afghanistan, missile defences and NATO-Russian relations are likely to feature strongly at the Lisbon Summit. This civil society-led Shadow Summit will examine present trends and the attitudes and assumptions underlying the conceptual, organizational and operational debates on the future of NATO. It will explore ways in which civil society groups and parliamentarians can work together more effectively to advance the positive objectives within NATO’s new strategy and ensure that it is implemented in line with shared democratic and humanitarian values.

MultiPart was a research project that aimed at investigating whether, how, and under what conditions multi-stakeholder partnerships can positively impact on human security and facilitate non-violence and long-term peace, while providing a productive framework for relations between local actors and external actors, including third party mediators and international organisations.

The work shop marked the third and last phase of the MultiPart research project. It served to present and discuss the findings of the three case studies and to give practical steps forward for the EU.

Speakers: Dr. Catriona Gourlay, Consultant and Research Fellow, UNIDIR; Jane Backhurst, Honorary Senior Fellow, Humanitarian Affairs, ISIS Europe; Sebastian Bloching, ISIS Europe. Guest speaker Dr. Antonio Missiroli, Head of European Dialogue Section, BEPA, European Commission.
 

2010 is a year of change in the EU institutions. The question was, how are the EU's policies and implementation going to be encompassed within this new structure.  Will there be an improvement in communication, coordination and cooperation? What resources and departments will lead the direction, now that the EU is aiming to 'depillarise' its previously contentious division of labour for crisis management - notably with Security Sector Reform (SSR). In particular, what will be the EAS's engagement in partnerships and with civil society - both in Brussels, the EU and in the field - and its role in humanitarian response?

This initial roundtable presented two working papers and two conceptual commentaries from established authors and institutes to preface this work and contributed towards the framework of this book. Based on the above questions, the speakers presented three initial analytical premises: political considerations behind CSDP missions; Humanitarian aid in the post-Lisbon era; civilian dimensions in Crisis Management; SSR under CSDP: identifying current needs.

Margret Johannsen's note on the launch of the Peace Report 2009. Palestine - Key Challenges for European Policy

European Security Contact Group meeting to launch the Peace Report 2010, this year focused on the option of transforming non-state violent actors into political citizens with a constructive role in society.

Hosted by MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski. Bringing together speakers from national representations as well as NATO and EU structures, the event will explore new avenues and facets for partnership between the two institutions.

ISIS Europe and DCAF have the pleasure to invite you Launch of the interactive webportal of the CSDP Mission Analysis Partnership -www.csdpmap.eu  

At 18.00H on 18 January 2010

1 Place du Congress, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

Speakers:

Fernando Jimenez Paez, Counsellor, Spanish EU Presidency

Veronica Cody, Head of Unit, Horizontal Issues, CMPD

ISIS Europe established CSDP MAP in 2008 which has been designed to fill a gap by collating research  institute, think tank, NGO, government and EU institutional work on CSDP missions into one-place.

CSDP MAP now has 20 partners across Europe and growing (CICS Bradford University; Clingendael; CMI; DCAF; ECFR; EGMONT; EPC; FRIDE; Fundacion Alternativas (OPEX); GRIP; ISIS Europe; IRIS; IFSH; IAI; Noref; SIPRI; SWP; UNIDIR; ZIF; Observer: ICG)

The New European Parliament:

What Priorities for Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence?

(Europe- United States, Europe- Russia and Europe-Iran relations)

The aim of this conference is to discuss with MEPs the views of the Council, Commission, government representatives and experts aspects of current affairs, as an occasion to re-examine the international scene for security and defence. 

The morning panel will be centred on the priorities for the EU in foreign policy, security and defence and in particular on the analysis of the Euro-Atlantic relations and the most challenging problems. This will be followed by more in depth analyses and discussions in the afternoon, with two workshops on: 

  “Russia and the Eastern Partnership” and “Iran and Central Asia”

Please note that participation in the confernce is by invitation only. For more information, please contact Filippo Mauri, Programme Associate at 

.

Following the annual launch held in Stockholm in June , the presentation of  the SIPRI Yearbook 2009 to the Brussels audience was organised by ISIS Europe and hosted by MEPs Ana Gomes and Hannes Swoboda at the European Parliament. The Yearbook gives insights into recent developments in security-related fields of armament, disarmament and international security. Its extensive database, both in the book and online, is widely used as a definitive reference. Director of SIPRI, Dr. Bates Gill, provided a summary of the contents of the 2009 Yearbook. Invited to speak on the panel were: Carl Hartzell, Deputy Representative of Sweden to the Political Security Committee (PSC); Mika-Markus Leinonen, Director of DG E IX at the Council of the EU; and Heather Grabbe, Director of the Open Society Institute.

The second roundtable will focus on: 
Justice Reform and Gender 
Penal Reform and Gender 
Border Management and Gender 

Please note that participation in the roundtable is by invitation only. For more information, please contact Vibeke Thomsen, Project Coordinator, at vibeke.thomsen@isis-europe.org or +32 2 230 7446

This European Security Contact group meeting focuses on the key challenges for European foreign, development and security policy for Palestine, based on this year’s edition of the Peace Report.

One authors and the editor of the Peace Report will present their analysis and the panel will hear commentary from the Council on the challenges from the security side and from the Commission on the challenges of development.

Chair: Giji Gya, Executive Director, ISIS Europe

Speakers:

Jochen Hippler, Institute for Development and Peace (INEF), coordinating co-editor of the 2009 Peace Report and author of '"The Decisive Battle is for the People's Minds" -- The Changing Character of War:

Implications for Peace, Security and Development Policy' chapter in the

2009 Peace Report

Margret Johannsen, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH), co-editor of the 2009 Peace Report and Author of: 'The Gaza-War -- Latest Chapter in an Never-Ending Conflict'

John Gatt-Rutter, DG E V/Policy Unit Task Force Mediterranean/Middle East, Policy Unit, Council of the European Union

Gwenda Jeffreys-Jones, Desk Officer Middle East Peace Process, European Commission

The first roundtable will focus on: 
Police Reform and Gender
Defence Reform and Gender 
Private Military and Security Compagnies and Gender. 
 

 The Roundtables on Gender and SSR are supported by the European Commission under the Peacebuilding Partnership.

Please note that participation in the roundtables is by invitation only. For more information, please contact Vibeke Thomsen, Project Coordinator at vibeke.thomsen@isis-europe.org

This briefing summarises the Shadow NATO Summit: Options for NATO - Pressing the Re-Set Button on the Strategic Concept, which took place on 31 March and 1 April 2009. The conference was co-organised by BASIC, the Bertelsmann Stiftung, ISIS Europe and NATO Watch, with the support of the Marmot Charitable Trust and an evening reception with Jamie Shea hosted by the NATO Public Diplomacy Division.

ISIS Europe and DCAF have the pleasure to invite you to a book launch

By David Nosworthy (Ed.)

27 April 2009, 12h-14h (lunch included)

At DCAF/CEPS building
Congresplein 1, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
 

Co-Chairs: Stephanie A. Blair, Senior Advisor SSR and Crisis Management, ISIS Europe

Daniel de Torres, Deputy Head of Special Programmes, DCAF 

Speakers:

David Nosworthy, Fellow, Special Programmes, DCAF

Jane Backhurst, Policy Campaign Director, Humanitarian Expert

Malgorzata Gorska, DG Relex – Unit B1 Human Rights and Democratisation, European Commission tbc.

Sylvie Fouet, Programme Adviser, UNICEF tbc.

To read the full report by Gerald Loftus, Avuncular American and former American diplomat, on the Shadow NATO Summit which took place on 31 March - 1 April 2009, please click here 

Senior NATO officials and civil society policy experts on comprehensive security will meet at the Shadow NATO Summit to identify, discuss and share ideas concerning the future of the Alliance.  It will examine present trends in transatlantic security, nuclear weapon proliferation and the attitudes and assumptions underlying current NATO policy.  It is anticipated that the Heads of State at the 60th anniversary Strasbourg/Kehl Summit to be held a few days later will launch a review of NATO’s Strategic Concept to be negotiated within the Alliance over 2009 and 2010.  We are initiating a parallel civil society process to ensure the review includes NATO-wide public attention and engagement.

The number of ESDP missions has increased and their scope of activity has widened in the past years. Capabilities have been at the centre of the debate on ESDP missions, but the focus has been overshadowed by military capabilities, monopolising the debate at the expense of civilian capabilities.

There is now a strong need for the EU to address professional skills in the Civilian Headline Goals and establish a clear vision of how the External Action Service will be set up once the Treaty of Lisbon is finally implemented.

Host: MEP Janusz Onyszkiewicz (ALDE)

Chair: Giji Gya, Executive Director, ISIS Europe

Speakers:

Lieutenant General Patrick de Rousiers, French military representative to the European Union Military Committee

Mika-Markus Leinonen, Directorate General E IX-Civilian Crisis

Jiri Pavlicek Head of CFSP/ESDP Unit (Czech Permanent Representation to the EU)

In June 2008, the EU officially launched the Security Sector Reform Mission in Guinea-Bissau with the objective to assist in the implementation of the country's National Security Strategy. The EU SSR Guinea-Bissau is a challenging mission not least due to the host country's violent past, failing infrastructure and weak civil society. Despite increased international involvement in the country, Guinea-Bissau continues to be plagued with numerous problems, most notably illegal drug-trafficking and illegal migration.

With parliamentary elections scheduled for 16 November 2008 it is a good time to explore the current situation and the future prospects of Guinea-Bissau.

Host: MEP Ana Maria Gomes (PSE)

Chair: Giji Gya, Executive Director, ISIS Europe

Speakers:

General Juan Esteban Verastegui, Head of Mission EU SSR Guinea-Bissau

Silvia Roque, Centre for Social Studies, Portugal

Olga Baus-Gibert, Manager of Programmes, European Commission

Amador Sanchez-Rico, Desk Officer for Guinea-Bissau, European Commission

SIS-Europe and Egmont - Royal Institute for International Relations

have the honour of inviting you to a roundtable on

Thursday 4 December 2008

14.30 to 16.30

at the Palais d'Egmont, Place du Petit Sablon, 1000 Brussels

Trends in the number and scope of peace operations since 2000 evidence heightened international appreciation for their value in crisis-response and regional stabilization. This book addresses national and institutional capacities to undertake such operations, by going beyond what is available in previously published literature, focusing on developments across regions and countries. The book provides the bases for arriving at unique insights about the characteristics of contributors and about the division of labour between the United Nations and other international entities.

The working language will be English

Book orders :  http://press.georgetown.edu/detail.html?id=9781589012097

In its attempt to stop a future Rwanda, the "Responsibility to Protect"(R2P) concept has raised a number of controversial issues. Those in support of the principle have seen it as a milestone in extending a normative basis for humanitarian intervention, while others claim that R2P serves as a license for powerful "Western" states to impose and intervene wherever they like.

Speaking on such issues 

Gareth Evans, President and CEO, International Crisis Group, (former Co-Chair ICISS)

Mark Burgess, Director, World Security Institute

Marta Martinelli, Pole Bernheim Chair in Peace and Conflict Studies, Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Visiting Professor, UNESCO Chair, University of Bujumbura, Burundi (author of the EP study on the Protection of Civilians in Peacekeeping) 

will seek to answer the following questions:

- What has happened to our understanding of sovereignty since the adoption of R2P?
- How important is the issue of political will in mobilising a response to potential R2P situations and the protection of civilians?

- How is ESDP addressing the issue of civilian and military capabilities in response to R2P?

- How have the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq affected the legitimacy of R2P as a concept?

- Should the international community invoke R2P in Darfur/Chad, Zimbabwe or Burma?

Handbook on Mainstreaming Human Rights and Gender into European Security and Defence Policy 

The Slovene Presidency and ISIS Europe are pleased to announce the launch to NGOs and civil society of the: Handbook on Mainstreaming Human Rights and Gender into European Security and Defence Policy - a compilation of relevant documents (some recently declassified), guidelines and examples from CONOPS, OPLANS, MoUs, job descriptions and lessons learnt across ESDP and EU operations. Click on the pdf to view the handbook:

Anita Pipan, Director-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Slovenia

Speakers

Mirko Cigler, Chairperson of Politico-Military Group, Representation of Slovenia to the EU

Peter Grk, Chairperson of CIVCOM, Representation of Slovenia to the EU

Nicole Reckinger, Human Rights Unit, Council General Secretariat

Followed by open discussion with NGO and civil society participants

Host: Angelika Beer, MEP

Opening remarks: Angelika Beer, MEP

Chair: Giji Gya, ISIS Europe

Speakers:

PD Dr Andreas Heinemann-Gruder, Senior Researcher as the Bonn International Centre for Conversion 
Prof. Dr Harald Muller, Director of the Peace Research Institute, Frankfurt
Prof. Dr Gotz Neuneck, Leader of the interdisciplinary working group on disarmament, arms control and risk technologies, Hamburg Institute for Security and Peace 

Three speakers from leading research institutes in Germany present their major findings and policy proposals on how best the EU and NATO can both preserve international arms control regimes and develop new arms control and disarmament initiatives.

DCAF and ISIS Europe launch the 'Gender and Security Sector Reform (SSR) Toolkit', a comprehensive resource to enhance SSR planning and SSR implementation.

Developed by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), in partnership with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) and the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) and with wide consultation, the Toolkit provides concrete examples, checklists, training advice and other practical information to integrate gender issues into 12 different practice areas across the security sector. It is a key resource for EU SSR programming.

Security Sector Reform and the EU

Ineffective and discriminatory security sector institutions are recognised as undermining the EU's efforts to reduce insecurity and eradicate poverty. The European Security Strategy identifies SSR as a key priority.

The EU carries out SSR through its EU Policy Framework for SSR. Following the November 2007 Council Conclusions, SSR is highlighted across EU policy, and is an important element of current and recent ESDP missions in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea Bissau, Iraq and Kosovo. The increasing links between EU work on humanitarian aid, security and development underscore the need for efficient and sustainable SSR processes. 

The principles guiding EC support for SSR state that an SSR process should be based on a gender-sensitive, multi-sector approach. Similarly, the November 2006 Council Conclusions clearly emphasise the need for full integration of a gender perspective in EU policies and activities on SSR, including all ESDP missions and operations.

The Toolkit 

The Gender SSR Toolkit is designed for the staff of regional and international organisations, national governments (including in donor countries) and security sector institutions responsible for the development of SSR policy and programming. The Toolkit:

- Sets out why gender is important to SSR processes
- Presentsa practical strategies to integrate gender into SSR

- Suggests gender-responsive policy approaches

- Provides material from which to develop training in gender and SRR issues

- Compiles international laws and standards on gender relevant to SSR

Speakers

Dr Riina Kionka, Personal Representative of the SG/HR of the EU for Human Rights

Theodora Krumova, EUPT Kosovo Gender Advisor

Mika-Markus Leinonen, Director DG E IX - Civilian Crisis Management, Council of the European Union

Inger Buxton, Crisis Management and Conflict Prevention, European Commission

Information on the Brussels launch: Giji Gya, ISIS Europe Brussels, +32 2 230 7446 

Information on the Toolkit: Anja Ebnother, DCAF Geneva, +41 22 741 77 00  

The Toolkit can be accessed through: www.dcaf.ch/gssrtoolkit  

Following the workshop "Investing in Children Security" of the 11th December 2007, on David Nosworthy's discussion paper "Children's Security in Post-conflict Peace-building", DCAF and ISIS Europe have published a joint report.

This report - starting with forewords from Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Under-Secretary-General, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict and by Dr. Riina Kionka, Personal Representative of the SG/HR of the EU for Human Rights - gives the workshop summary, recommendations emanating from the discussions, and a full copy of David Nosworthy's discussion report.

TRANS EUROPEAN POLICY STUDIES ASSOCIATION

and

ISIS Europe

have the pleasure of inviting you to the following presentation:

The European Parliament and the Common Foreign and Security Policy

By Jacek Saryusz-Wolski

Mr. Saryusz-Wolski is a Member of the European Parliament, Chairman of the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET), Vice President of the European People's Party (EPP) and Professor at the University of Lodz.

Wednesday 4th June 2008 at 13:00

(Registration by Wednesday 21st May 2008)

Fondation Universitaire

11, rue d'Egmont

1000 Bruxelles

The conference will be preceded by a small buffet lunch at 12:30