View the recent Patrons, Keynote Speakers, and Advisory Board Members of the International Workshops on Global Security and the Center for Strategic Decision Research, including defense ministers, heads of state or government, senior military commanders, academics, and industry leaders.

29th International Workshop on Global Security
Rome, Italy July, 2012

With the patronage of Italian Minister of Defense Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola and a key address by Italy's Chief of Defense General Staff General Biagio Abrate, the 29th International Workshop on Global Security will be presented in Rome, Italy in July 2012. As in past years, invited workshop speakers and participants will include defense ministers, chiefs of defense general staff, other senior officials including political and military representatives to NATO, the EU, the UN, and representatives from industry. More than 30 countries from Europe, North and South America, and Asia are expected to participate. Suggested themes for workshop discussions include the strategic implications of the current economic crisis, the "Arab Spring" in North Africa and the Middle East, as well as withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan. As one of the main themes, there will be an emphasis again this year on the challenges of cyber security and information technologies.

The workshop will be presented in cooperation with the Centre for Defense Innovation of the Italian Defense General Staff (Centro Innovazione Difesa- CID) and the Italian Military Center for Strategic Studies (Centro Militare di Studi Strategici - CeMiSS).

For information concerning participation or possible sponsorship: please contact
Dr. Roger Weissinger-Baylon, Workshop Chairman and Founder: roger@csdr.org
or Anne Baylon, Co-Director, Center for Strategic Decision Research: anne@csdr.org

Italian Minister of Defense
Giampaolo Di Paola

Chief of Italian Defense General Staff
General Biagio Abrate

28th International Workshop on Global Security
"Global Security--The Risks of Strategic Surprise"
Paris, France June, 2011

In his role as Patron and Keynote Speaker of the 28th International Workshop on Global Security, His Excellency Gérard Longuet, France's Minister of Defense, welcomed the workshop to Paris for the third time to address the theme of "Global Security--The Risks of Strategic Surprise." He was joined by the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Honorable William J. Lynn III, who called attention to the growing challenge of cyber security--which will be one of the main themes of our 2012 Workshop in Rome, Italy.

2011 Workshop Proceedings:
GLOBAL SECURITY: The Risks of Strategic Surprise, Proceedings of the 28th International Workshop on Global Security
Anne D. Baylon, Ed.

Click here to download complete book (PDF, 3.9MB): 2011 Paris Workshop Proceedings

Click here to download complete book WITHOUT photos (PDF, 1.9MB)
Alternatively, you may request a complete complimentary copy by email: roger@csdr.org

His Excellency Gérard Longuet
Minister of Defense of France

Patron of the 28th International Workshop on Global Security

27th International Workshop on Global Security
Berlin, Germany June, 2010

For the fifth time in its history, the workshop was invited to Berlin to address the theme of "Global Security—The Growing Challenges." Political leaders, including defense ministers, foreign ministers and heads of government, as well as senior UN, EU and NATO and other diplomats, military commanders, and academic experts from more than forty countries participated.

Workshop themes. As demonstrated by Iceland's volcanic eruption—or recent tragic earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, nations face a growing range of economic and security concerns on a global scale. In many cases, risks are impossible to predict. No longer limited to purely military threats, today's dangers arise from such highly diverse sources as the international financial system—which plunged the world into recession; natural disasters; energy security; scarcity of water, minerals, and other resources; poverty; drug, weapons, and human trafficking; and—above all—the lack of hope for a better future for millions across the globe. Such a wide range of threats cannot be addressed effectively in national capitals alone, nor in the prominent international institutions, since decisions are often sidetracked by interest groups or simply by their extreme complexity, unexpected nature, or lack of resources.

Global Security in Times of Economic Uncertainty, the proceedings of the 26th International Workshop on Global Security, Istanbul, 2009.

26th International Workshop on Global Security
Istanbul, Turkey June, 2009
2009 Workshop Proceedings: "Global Security in Times of Economic Uncertainty" (PDF, 3.2MB)
2009 Workshop Brochure (PDF, 2MB)
Slideshow of photos from 2009 Workshop

Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül.

Global Security: In Search of a New Vision, the proceedings of the 25th International Workshop on Global Security, Rome, 2008.

25th International Workshop on Global Security
Rome, Italy June, 2008
2008 Workshop Proceedings: "Global Security: in Search of a New Vision" (PDF, 1.4MB)

• Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee (and former Chief of Staff of Italy)
• Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa
• U.K.Defense Minister Rt. Hon. Des Browne
• Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül
• Alenia Aeronautica Chairman Dr. Giorgio Zappa

Other major speakers of the Rome workshop included:

• Georgian Vice Prime Minister Giorgi Baramidze
• Estonian Defense Minister Jaak Aaviksoo
• Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili
• Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk
• Italian Chief of Defense General Vincenzo Camporini
• Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) Chief of Staff General Karl-Heinz Lather
• Allied Joint Force Commander Admiral Mark Fitzgerald
• Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Admiral Luciano Zappata
• Former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) General George Joulwan
• Deputy Secretary General of NATO Claudio Bisogniero
• NATO Assistant Secretary General Peter Flory
• British Ambassador to NATO Stewart Eldon
• Italian Ambassador to NATO Stefano Stefanini
• Turkish Ambassador to NATO Tacan Ildem
• Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Munir Akram
• Algerian Ambassador the UN Youcef Yousfi
• Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov
• Egyptian Ambassador to the EU Mahmoud Karem
• U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Hon. John Grimes

24th International Workshop on Global Security
Paris, France June, 2007
2007 Workshop Proceedings: "Global Security in Crisis: The Urgent Need for Strategies that Work" (PDF, 1.4MB)

General James Jones, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe(SACEUR) and currently the U.S. National Security Advisor

German Defense Minister
Franz Josef Jung, keynote speaker of the Berlin Workshop.

23rd International Workshop on Global Security - Berlin, May 2006
Keynote Speaker: German Minister of Defense Franz Josef Jung
The 23rd International Workshop was presented in association with the ILA Berlin Air Show in May 2006. Speakers included Minister Franz Josef Jung, Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli, Hellenic Defense Minister Evangelos Meimarakis, Slovenian Defense Minister Karl Erjavec, Albanian Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk, Supreme Allied Commander Europe General James Jones, SHAPE Chief of Staff Gen. Rainer Schuwirth, Allied Joint Force Commander Gen. Gerhard Back, former SACEUR General George Joulwan; former NATO Mil. Comm. Chairman Gen. Harald Kujat, Italian Chief of Defense Staff Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola; EU Military Staff’s Director-General Lt. Gen. Jean-Paul Perruche, Pakistan’s U.N. Ambassador Munir Akram, U.S. Amb. to NATO Victoria Nuland, China’s IISS Vice Chair Maj. Gen. Zhan Maohai, U.N. Under-Secretary-General Nobuaki Tanaka, Russia’s Colonel-General Anatoly Ignatievich Mazurkevich, U.S. Director of International Cooperation Al Volkman, and U.S. Prin. Dep. Assistant Secretary of Defense Linton Wells II.

Workshop venues included the Pergamon Museum and the Reichstag. The Pergamon houses important collections of Greek, Roman, Babylonian, and Islamic art, including the Ischtar Gate from ancient Babylon (above).

Chantilly Follow-up Colloquium

This booklet contains the proceedings of the Chantilly Follow-up Colloquium which was held on 9 January 2006 in Paris, France at the Defense Ministry. It was presented by the Center for Strategic Decision Research and the Délégation aux Affaires Stratégiques, Ministère de Défense, with the aim of further developing the discussion topics of the 22nd International Workshop in Chantilly in June 2005 and preparing for the upcoming 23rd International Workshop in Berlin in May 2006.

Report: Proceedings of the Chantilly Follow-up Colloquium: Meeting the Security Challenges Ahead (PDF)
Edited by Caroline Baylon

Britain's Defense Secretary
Rt Hon John Reid
argues that the complexity of issues and threats means that "military response can only be one part of the solution."

21st International Workshop on Global Security - Berlin, May 2004
Keynote Address: German Defense Minister Peter Struck
NATO Military Committee Chairman General Harald Kujat, Supreme Allied Commander Europe General James Jones, U.S. Ambassador to NATO William Burns, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Michael Wynne, Asst. Secretary of Defense Linton Wells, Italian Chief of Defense Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, Romanian Defense Minister Ioan Mircea Pascu, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov, Georgian Defense Minister Gela Bezhuashvili, and Lithuanian Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius were among the principal speakers.

Download 2004 Workshop Proceedings (PDF, 1.14 MB.
Shortcut to Overview by Workshop Chairman Roger Weissinger-Baylon and Keynote by German Defense Minister Peter Struck.

General Harald Kujat, Chairman of the NATO MIlitary Committee