Security Jam 2012: Halftime

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Security Jam 2012: Brainstorming Global Security

We’re now half-way through the Security Jam (organized by the Security and Defense Agenda), with almost 9,000 logins and 2,000 posts. 31 polls have been published so far, with 56% believing NATO should remain involved in Libya’s transition, and 43% identifying cyber as the most worrying transnational threat. As the Security Jam gathers pace on its third day, many excellent ideas are already out there and have been discussed intensely. Here are the updates from the seven different forums:

In the Transnational Threats forum, the debate is looking at pre-emptive use of violence as international organizations’ principal way of addressing transnational threats – but is
this justified by international law and international public opinion? Moreover, it seems that defense organizations are having trouble seeing transnational threats as a core military task. What should politicians do to move this up the agenda?

The Strategic Partnerships forum is questioning why security is largely absent from EU-China relations. Is it because Europe continues to rely on the US as its main security provider? Moreover, a lively discussion is taking place about Georgia’s accession to NATO.

In the Libya forum, the question is whether the Arab League and some of its member nations could now be long-term partners for NATO. Jammers are also looking at lessons learnt from Eastern European countries where the media transitioned from state-owned to free and open.

In the Afghanistan forum, the role of China is being discussed, and in particular its possible evolution from economic to political power. Jammers are indicating that humanitarian intervention & human rights protection should be part of alliance capabilities – but will that be possible in the current fiscal situation? Moreover, while there is some agreement on the need to listen to Afghans when devising post-2014 strategies, several Jammers are questioning whether Western-style democracy is what the country needs.

Debate in Cyber Security forum is looking at categorizing electro-magnetic pulse as a cyber-weapon. It was suggested that recruiting more hackers to work for the public sector could improve cyber security levels. But will hackers change sides?  More to that, there is still doubt as to who the main actors of cyber-security are, begging the question: Who is securing cyber-space?

Jammers in the Future Capabilities forum are concerned with the impact of new technologies on rules of engagement as robots replace humans on the battlefield. There is also a focus in maritime with Jammers asking whether the cooperation in the Gulf of Aden could translate to more long-term capability building.

In the Crisis Management forum, an interesting proposal was put forth for nations to specialize and take responsibility for different crisis management roles. Jammers also suggested the creation of a permanent international working group, and highlighted the need of NGOs to become less reliant on the military.

Jam moderators will begin focusing the discussions into concrete recommendations this afternoon, so make sure to participate and put forth your ideas!

To follow the Security Jam updates through the Security Defense Agenda’s YouTube channel, please click here.

To sign up to Security Jam please click here.

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