CIAO DATE: 05/2008
September 2005
Austrian National Defence Academy
One of the many topics during the conference was the dramatic
development of international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction.
Professor Rohan GUNARATNA, Head of the International Centre for
Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence
and Strategic Studies in Singapore emphasised the increasing threat,
especially for Europe, that does not follow such a strict strategy of
counter-terrorism such as the United States of America.
Another crucial aspect during the conference was regional stability. In
his keynote speech to the AC, the Special Coordinator of the Stability
Pact for South Eastern Europe, Dr. Erhard BUSEK described the critical
situation in the Balkan-region. He pointed out that the European Union
must not wait until the problems and challenges of the region have
reached the Union but should rather develop preventive measures within
the region itself. In this respect, the transatlantic cooperation does
play an important role.
Beside the Western Balkans, also other regions were addressed, such as
the Mediterranean Sea, South East Asia and the Caucasus. Senior
Military Advisor to the United Nations Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan, BG Alexander WOHLGEMUTH reported about the
security-political instability in Afghanistan and showed how difficult
Regional Co-operation as a Partnership Goal actually is.
Finally, the educational dimension too was emphasized during the
conference. With the help of new and modern Training-programmes, a
better and much closer information-sharing can be achieved. Especially
in the field of information-technology, an efficient and easy
strategy-approach will be pursued.
Resource link: Proceedings of the 8th Annual Conference - Expanding and Enhancing the Partnerships: Further Steps after Istanbul [PDF] - 754K