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Organizers:
  
  Dear visitors, dear friends, let me welcome you on this web page devoted to the international conference “GLOBSEC - The Role of the Transatlantic Partnership in the Global Security Environment” In the 21st century we do realize, that we can not consider our security as granted. We live in a time, when risks and threats know no borders, and security threats may arise from beyond the traditional Euro-Atlantic Area. Our security can not be any more “euro-centric”, because we can not answer most of today’s threats through territorial defense. We have to tackle these threats by the source with a new and proactive security policy, otherwise they will end up at our door step. Instability and terrorism can inevitably spill over to us in this increasingly interdependent and globalized world. New threats need new missions, capabilities and new effective means to cope with them. This is a new challenge for the transatlantic partnership, which still remains a partnership based on common values and security interests. While the nature of the threats has changed, NATO is undergoing its deep transformation and the European Union is shaping its new security agenda in order to meet the challenges of the new security environment. I believe that this conference will contribute to the discussion as well as it will help to raise the public awareness of the new role and mission of the transatlantic partnership in the global security environment. This webpage will provide information on the conference as well as interesting ideas related to the future of the transatlantic partnership. From the presentation, draft of program, project annotation and other documents you will learn more about themes and format of the conference. On behalf of the organizing consortium, I wish you many fruitful thoughts. Róbert Vass President of the Euro-Atlantic Center Chairman of the Slovak Atlantic Commission Articles/News:
Updated Photogallery Section
Globsec Secretariat, 9.11.2005
Photogallery now contains photos from both days of the conference. read more...
Ilko Kucheriv: NATO and Public Opinion
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 29.10.2005
Less than seven percent of Ukrainians are well informed about NATO and its current state of development. A vast majority of the population is unaware of the benefits for the country and its people in joining the North Atlantic Alliance. These conclusions were reached following a polling of experts conducted by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF) from September 22 to October 11, 2005. A total of 60 experts were surveyed.
read more... Oľga Gyárfášová – Zora Bútorová – Marián Velšic: Perception of NATO Membership
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 20.10.2005
 The Slovaks’ view of transatlantic relations is similar to that of other Europeans. As the comparative survey Transatlantic Trends 2004 indicates, 52% of respondents believe that the United States and the European Union share enough common values to be able to co-operate on international agenda, while 29% think the opposite. However, if presented with an “either-or” question (“What would you say is more important to defending Slovakia’s current vital interests: an alliance with the European Union or with the United States?”), the Slovaks clearly prefer the European Union. read more...Tomáš Valášek: Non-Americanism in the European Union
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 18.10.2005
First, is anti-Americanism inspiring thinking about European defense and security policy? Yes absolutely; anti-Americanism in a classic balancing sense is a part of the cocktail of views that make up the European consensus, along with the ardent Atlanticism of the Balts or the neutrality or isolationism of some of the small, old member states.
Second, is anti-Americanism the main engine driving common European defense and security policy? Far from it. It is present but on the margins, and it doesn’t play a strong role in the crafting of EU security policies. However, anti-americanism has an attractive cousin, one that I call non-Americanism, and she is more popular in Brussels, perhaps too popular. read more... NATO „Flagship conference“ will be held in Bratislava
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 18.10.2005
 The Capital of Slovakia is going to be the center of international security discussion again. The most important figures of international security community will meet during the conference organized by Euro-Atlantic Center, Slovak Atlantic Commission and NATO under the aegis of the Minister of foreign affairs of the Slovak Republic H.E. Mr. Eduard Kukan. Conference „GLOBSEC - The Role of Transatlantic Partnership in Global Security Environment“ is a response to the security changes occurred in last years. It is aimed for searching and discussing new methods of providing security and meeting the chaalenges of the new century such as global terrorism. Special emphasis is put on setting of mission of the transatlantic partnership in this process. The GLOBSEC conference will be held from the 27th to 28th of October 2005. read more...Mário Nicolini: Slovakia one year after NATO entry
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 18.10.2005
 Preparations for NATO accession changed Slovakia. They speeded up the transformation of society and opened the doors to a more assertive representation of national interests abroad. One year after joining the North Atlantic Alliance, there are important challenges ahead of the country — to pass on its experience to other countries, to keep the pace of reforms and to define its position on the world stage. During the fulfillment of the NATO Membership Action Plan, three criteria finally determined that we received an invitation at the Prague Summit in November 2002: continuation of democracy after the elections, support of the citizens for NATO membership, and credible reform of the armed forces. read more...Mário Nicolini: Putting others on the map
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 18.10.2005
 Slovakia’s experience indicates that when the twin tracks of societal transformation and NATO/European Union integration merge into one, the synergic effect is tremendous. The reform-bent government was able to leverage outside help and pressure to effect lasting change in politics, army and society. My country now stands ready to assist our friends, the Membership Action Plan countries and others, to achieve the level of democratic maturity, defense policy development, defense planning and interoperability that is required to join NATO, but first and foremost, that will best serve the interests of their countries. read more...Interview: Pavol Demeš, Director of the GMF US, Bratislava
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 15.10.2005
 Pán Demeš, po tom ako sa Slovensko stalo demokratickou krajinou, tretí sektor prestal byť výrazne podporovaný z krajín západnej Európy a USA. Aké sú podľa Vás súčasné výzvy pre tretí sektor na Slovensku?Tretí sektor, čo je kolektívne pomenovanie pre širokú sieť mimovládnych neziskových organizácií, je dnes na Slovensku dobre etablovaný. Aj vďaka jeho pôsobeniu je dnes Slovensko modernou krajinou, ktorá sa stala súčasťou európskej a transatlantickej rodiny. Plní podobné funkcie ako ich poznáme v štandardných demokraciách. S činnosťou mimovládnych organizácií (MVO) sa stretávame prakticky vo všetkých sférach života – starostlivosť o sociálne odkázaných, mladých či starých ľudí, v zdravotníckej, environmentálnej, kultúrnej, vzdelávacej oblasti, ochrane ľudských práv ap. My sme už súčasťou rozvinutej Európy a je preto logické, že... read more... Interview: Martin Erdmann, Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 9.10.2005
 Intensified Dialogues were first launched with the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland in early 1997, in the run-up to NATO’s first post-Cold War round of enlargement in 1999. The process of conducting Intensified Dialogues with these countries, which had declared their interest in joining the Alliance, allowed us to explore with each of them issues that had been raised in a 1995 Study on NATO Enlargement. This Study was carried out by the Alliance to consider the merits of admitting new members and how they should be brought in. It concluded that the end of the Cold War provided a unique opportunity to build improved security in the entire Euro-Atlantic area. It also highlighted that countries seeking membership would have to be able to demonstrate that they had fulfilled certain requirements. The Intensified Dialogue process aimed to... read more...Guillaume Parmentier: A Transatlantic Taskforce to Fight For Free
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 9.10.2005
 The "expansion of freedom all over the world" - as George W. Bush put it in his inauguration speech - has the potential to alter the dynamics of the transatlantic relationship by putting the Europeans in an invidious position. It is impossible to disagree that the expansion of freedom is a desirable objective. Mr Bush was right to say in his State of the Union speech that "if whole regions of the world remain in espair and grow in hatred, they will be recruiting grounds for terror, and that terror will stalk America and other free nations for decades". read more...Jan Hartl: The Importance of Public Opinion in Security and Defence Policy-Making
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 7.10.2005
To many people, public opinion appears as something obvious, a
feature of everyday life, which is so plain and normal that only seldom do people ask themselves what the nature of public opinion is or question its appearance in human history. Perhaps most people would be surprised to learn that public opinion (as an important factor in the social, political and economic life of society) entered the historical scene only some 200 years ago. Prior to the end of the 18th century, only rarely could we observe the coincidence of three factors which were inevitable preconditions for the rise of strong public opinion: read more... Karol Čukan: Development of Views of the Slovak Public on the Armed Forces and NATO Membership
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 7.10.2005
From the beginning of the 90s the issue of how to guarantee the
country’s defence and security emerged in public discussion, becoming an integral part of public opinion polls as well. Originally, the political elite raised the topic of guaranteeing security, but slowly and gradually the public became involved in the creation of citizens’ active relationship to defence and security. In spite of the objective importance of this topic, issues related to the defence and security of Slovakia and the position of the armed forces in society represent secondary or even tertiary issues from the public’s point of view. A more distinct and stabile public opinion on these topics, especially on the issue of guaranteeing the defence of Slovakia, has gradually developed over the last decade. read more... Marie Vlachová: Public Opinion on Security and Defence - A Good Message for Politicians (Conclusion)
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 7.10.2005
While European defence has been in what one could call a state of
birth, the public image of NATO in the candidate countries of the second wave of enlargement has been positive and stable. Analysing results of the polls conducted by several prestigious national and international agencies and organisations, Alina Zilberman and Stephen Webber came to the conclusion that, by the middle of 2002, public support for NATO membership in the seven so called ‘Big Bang’ countries1 could be characterised as reasonably grounded within a variety of considerations such as matters of security, economy and culture. In the middle of 2002, public attitudes to NATO shifted, from emotional and volatile ones, to a more knowledgeable and committed nature of support. read more... Asmus: Reinventing NATO (yet again) politically
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 29.7.2005
 The North Atlantic Alliance today faces a paradox perhaps best illustrated by the following three observations. First, a quick visit to NATO Headquarters reveals an Alliance that today is engaged in more missions and activities than ever before. It is not an exaggeration to say that NATO today is busier than at any time since its founding over half a century ago and in many key areas on the verge of being over-stretched.read more... Scheffer: Democracy best answer to terror
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 29.7.2005
 Speaking at an anti-terror Summit in Madrid on 10 March, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that protecting and promoting democracy “remains the best answer to terror”.The Secretary General visited the Spanish capital to address the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security, 8 to 10 March. The Summit marked the first anniversary of the bomb attacks in Madrid on 11 March 2004 that killed 191 people. read more... James Dobbins: NATO’s role in nation-building
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 29.7.2005
 Nation-building has been a growth industry since the end of the Cold War. The United Nations, NATO, the United States and more recently the European Union have all become engaged in missions that employ armed force in post-conflict environments with the objective of supporting a political transformation, that is to say democratisation. Not every recent military expedition fits this description, but nation-building, peace-building or stabilisation operations, depending on one’s preferred terminology, have become the dominant paradigm for the use of armed force in... read more...Jaap de Hoop Scheffer: A Changing Alliance in a Changing World
GLOBSEC Secretariat, 27.7.2005
 ...It is clear, first of all, that the new security environment demands new security thinking. Today, providing security means being able to project stability – including to regions far from home. We are not only confronted with a new, lethal breed of terrorism. We also have to seriously consider the prospect of weapons of mass destruction getting into the hands of irresponsible individuals with evil intentions. And we must deal with failing states that cause instability in their own region and well beyond.... read more... |
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