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This Week in ISN Insights…

It's week 23 on our editorial calendar, Photo: Leo Reynolds, flickr

Coming up this week in our ISN Insights coverage:

The Kofi Annan Foundation’s Albert Souza Mulli tackles the growing scourge of transnational organized crime on Monday.

On Tuesday, Professor John Mueller of Ohio State University opines about the overblown threat of nuclear weapons.

Dr Alex Wilner of the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich argues that combating terrorism involves a better understanding of the radicalization process on Wednesday.

And on Thursday, Francesco Milan, a Researcher with the Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organization, previews Turkey’s 12 June general elections.

And in case you missed any of last week’s special, expanded coverage of the International Security Forum, catch up here with articles on: US-Iranian relations; envisaging the security challenges of a post-nuclear world; uncovering “participationist Islam”; reversing the excesses of post-9/11 policy; developing a more realistic cyberwar threat assessment; and managing China’s rapid rise.

Making Sense of the Arab Spring

Arab spring, not flower revolution: Fawaz A Gerges (LSE) and Volker Perthes (SWP) on the opening panel of the 2011 International Security Forum. Photo: Tim Wendel/ISN

On Wednesday, 1 June, the 9th International Security Forum closed its doors to three days of intense political debate and passionate shoulder rubbing. The highlights were many and varied, yet the 450 participants will surely keep the fondest memories of the event’s first panel discussion, which put the conference on the right track, and set the tone for the following days.

“‘Let’s import a new government’ labor activists joked. This was after the regime threatened to import workers from Bangladesh, if we asked for higher wages”. Nehad Abul Komsan from the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) described the Egyptian revolution on the opening panel last Monday. Hosni Mubarak is gone but problems remain. According to Yossi Alpher from bitterlemons publications the socio-economic troubles, which are partially responsible for the upheaval in Northern Africa and the Middle East, will continue to pose a big challenge for any new leadership.

John W Limbert from the US Naval Academy examined Iran’s role in the Arab Spring in his statement. As in the past, Iran seems to be excluded from progressive developments taking place in its neighborhood. “Tunisia could, Iran not” is a slogan among Iranian progressives, who are again frustrated by their country’s backwardness. Ambassador Limbert went as far as to say that Iran’s leadership is humiliated by regional developments. It did not even manage to protect its Shiite fellows in Bahrain.

Continue reading “Making Sense of the Arab Spring”
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This Week in ISN Insights…

 

 

It’s week 22 on our editorial calendar, Photo: Leo Reynolds/flickr

 

The ISN is pleased to offer you a special, expanded edition of ISN Insights this week, dedicated specifically to coverage of the International Security Forum (ISF) taking place 30 May-1 June 2011, in Zurich:

* On Monday, we take a closer look at the stalled state of US-Iranian relations, and envisage a world without nuclear weapons, with articles, respectively, from Dr John Limbert, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the US Naval Academy, and Alyson JK Bailes, Visiting Professor at the Univeristy of Iceland and former Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

* Tuesday’s focus on the ten-year anniversary of 9/11 offers selections from Dr Paul Pillar, Visiting Professor and Director of Studies at the Center for Peace and Security Studies, Georgetown University, and Dr Lorenzo Vidino, Visiting Fellow at the Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich.

* We’ll offer up on Wednesday an article on managing China’s rapid rise by Dr Kerry Brown, Head of the Asia Program at Chatham House, and a piece by the CSS’ Dr Myriam Dunn Cavelty, on developing a more realistic cyberthreat assessment.

And in case you missed any of last week’s coverage, you can catch up here on: the 20-year anniversary of Operation Solomon; opinion polls and IR; the challenges facing the new European External Action Service (EEAS); and understanding Pakistan’s nuclear rationale.

Talking Security in Zurich: ISF 2011 Starts Monday

Old warrior Hans Waldman watches over Zurich while security experts discuss the future of conflict. Photo: courtesy of Zurich Tourism/flickr

Zurich is famous for its bankers. But next week a different crowd will also populate the city: more than 400 academics, civil servants, military officials and journalists from dozens of countries are expected to gather at the Kongresshaus for the International Security Forum (ISF 2011, 30 May – 1 June). Ueli Maurer, Switzerland’s minister of defense, will open the conference on Monday.

The organizers of the ISF’s ninth edition, entitled “Regional and Global Security: Meeting Tomorrow’s Challenges Today”, have reacted to recent world events and dedicate the first plenary session on Monday to the revolts and revolutions in North Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula.

Will Egypt regain its natural role as the prominent regional leader? How would a change of regime in Syria affect the regional picture? Will the move towards more pluralistic political systems strengthen or weaken US influence? These are some of the questions that will be adressed by the keynote speakers John W Limbert (US Naval Academy), Volker Perthes (German Institute for International and Security Affairs, SWP), Yossi Alpher (bitterlemons publications) and Fawaz A Gerges (London School of Economics and Political Science).

Nuclear weapons, the migration-security nexus and public-private cooperation are on the agenda for Monday afternoon. The Forum will get more intimate on Tuesday: Invited participants will join one of several thematic tracks, ranging from “9/11 plus Ten” to “State Failure / State Building”.

Continue reading “Talking Security in Zurich: ISF 2011 Starts Monday”

Serbia’s Bid for EU Candidacy

Wall with graffiti: Never, EU!
EU, never? Wait and see. Photo: Limbic/flickr

The timing could not have been any better. A few days from now, the chief prosecutor to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) will release a report which was expected to paint a damning picture of Serbia’s co-operation with the ICTY, thereby destroying Serbia’s chance of getting EU candidacy status this year. Considering today’s historic arrest of war criminal Ratko Mladic and his expected extradition to The Hague, some people at the ICTY will now have to work overtime to correct the draft report, .

Serbia’s move towards EU accession began back in 2008, with presidential elections and a parliamentary vote both demonstrating the appeal of the EU perspective to Serbia’s electorate. Even after Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence, a majority of Serbians continued to resist nationalistic demagogy. Of course the nationalist ideology had not disappeared, but its political significance started to diminish.

Serbia officially applied for EU membership in December 2009, after seeking to secure the broadest possible support among member states. In October last year, the EU member states referred Serbia’s application for membership in the EU to the European Commission, while reiterating that further steps toward membership would depend on Serbia’s “full co-operation” with the ICTY. The Netherlands in particular took a tough stance, reiterating that their consent was dependent on the arrest of General Mladic and Goran Hadzic.

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