An Interview with Pauline Massart, Deputy Director of the Security and Defence Agenda (SDA)
30 Sep 2014
The Security and Defence Agenda (SDA) is a Brussels-based think tank that since 2002 has focused on security and defense issues. Could you please elaborate on SDA’s mission and focus?
The SDA was originally founded to provide a neutral meeting ground for EU and NATO officials to debate issues ranging from the future of Afghanistan to the role of women in security, EU-NATO cooperation, and the European defence project. We have preserved this core mission over the years, but we have also broadened our focus from relatively traditional “hard-security” topics, such as military cooperation and procurement, to issues that include cyber-security, climate change, and the interrelationship between development and human security.
While fulfilling the above mission, the SDA has also established a broad network of partners, speakers, guest contributors and colleagues in Brussels, including those affiliated with the EU and NATO, and in national capitals in Europe and the US. In recent years, we’ve worked to establish partnerships beyond the “usual suspects” found in the security sector in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Finally, beginning in October 2014, we plan to enhance our impact and presence via a new strategic partnership with Friends of Europe, a think-tank that parallels our interest in European policy analysis and debate. Together, we will continue to ask the tough questions, push for real answers, and provide new ideas and concrete recommendations on how to cope with today’s security problems.
From 14-16 October 2014, the SDA and IBM will stage external pageSecurity Jam 2014, a global online discussion on key security issues. Who can participate in the Jam and how? What issues will take center stage this particular year? How will you collect and share the ideas and recommendations that are discussed?
The Security Jam is a unique online discussion which brings together thousands of stakeholders from a broad number of areas within the security sector. After all, NGO workers do interact with generals, journalists frequently engage with soldiers in the field, and politicians do talk with students. We hope to include all these voices in Security Jam 2014, which is a massive ‘brainstorming event’ that’s designed to yield ten top recommendations on how the incoming EU and NATO leaderships should tackle the security problems that await them.
Anyone who works in security-related fields – i.e., within international organizations, national governments or parliaments, the military, NGOs, think-tanks, academia (including students) and other interested groups – are encouraged to register at external pagewww.securityjam.org and actively participate in the Jam from October 14-16.
The Jam will be held entirely online and its different forums will be moderated by top experts from renowned think-tanks such as SIPRI (Sweden), PISM (Poland), ISPI (Italy), the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (US), Gateway House (India) and USAK (Turkey). With the help of powerful data-mining tools, our moderators will build on the thousands of best practices, ideas, and concrete proposals developed by Jammers in order to develop the top recommendations I mentioned earlier.
VIPs – including ministers, top NATO and EU officials, chiefs of staff, and NGO heads – will also provide senior political perspectives throughout the Jam.
As for the Jam’s focus, the brainstorming activities will occur in six forums and focus on the ongoing conflicts in Syria and the Ukraine, the respective roles of NATO and the EU, and cyber-security. We also expect the discussions to focus on current problem areas such as the rise of the so-called Islamic State and maritime disputes, including those in the East China Sea.
The top ten recommendations, along with a final Jam Report, will subsequently be presented to the new NATO Secretary General and the new EU HRVP. They will also be circulated among the members of the European Parliament and to decision makers around the world.
Finally, I’d like to emphasize that the Jam is co-organized by the SDA and IBM, who will provide the technical platform we’ll use, and is supported by the European External Action Service, the US European Command and NATO Allied Command Transformation and a number of national governments. The Jam’s partners, including the ISN, feature a large number of think-tanks, universities and associations. They are helping publicize the Jam across various sectors and nations and making sure that the 14-16 October event will once again be a success.
In June, SDA focused its annual conference on the theme of external pageOverhauling Transatlantic Security Thinking. What were some of the key conclusions and/or recommendations from the conference?
The SDA’s annual conference has become the flagship Brussels security event, bringing together a range of VIP speakers and hundreds of senior participants from the EU, NATO, national governments and agencies, the media, NGOs and academia.
The speakers at this year’s conference, which was chaired by former NATO Secretary General and SDA Co-President Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, 1) warned of Russian imperialist ambitions and the danger of Western governments overreacting to the threat; 2) advocated the increased use of “soft-power” to promote development and nation-building; and 3) called on Europeans, yet again, to stop over-relying on the United States for their security.
The conference report can be found on the external pageSDA’s website.
Finally, can you tell us more about SDA’s external pagecyber-security initiative?
Given that the world is confronting a complex array of threats and actors in the cyber-security sector, the SDA’s mission is to sort fact from fiction, understand who is doing what, and put tough questions to actors across the public-private divide, including those working in civil society.
Additionally, our cyber-security initiative aims to provide concrete recommendations to policymakers on issues ranging from critical infrastructure protection, public-private cooperation and the ongoing security/privacy rift to global partnerships, cyber-offense capabilities, internet governance, insurance and risk management, future technology developments, and the role of cyber-security in innovation and growth.
For additional information on Security Jam 2014 please see:
external pageInfo & Registration
external pageSecurity Jam Forums
external pageFood for Thought