On Friday 20 March 2009, the last day of Week 4 of the academic curriculum, Senior Course 114 completed their Study Period on International Organizations, devoted to an analysis of the international security framework within which NATO operates. Study Period B1 focuses on several key international organizations within the Euro-Atlantic security community as well as non-state actors, such as non-governmental organizations, multinational corporations, cartels and contractors. Although these entities have slowly evolved, there are important questions regarding the continued relevance of the current “system”. How can these organizations do more to enhance international security and stability, and can they cooperate more effectively under the “Comprehensive Approach” in order to achieve this common goal?
It was only natural that the academic week should start with a lecture on the United Nations as the stronghold of shared values and commitments to peace, security, freedom and prosperity for all. Over the long term the UN has been valuable, playing a very important role in many aspects of human life. Nowadays, though, many people feel frustrated, seeing it an organization with wonderful ideas that are never translated into reality. Dr Mats Berdal, Professor of Security and Developmentat King’s College, London, delivered the first Study Period lecture, concerning the United Nations. Among other topics, he focused on the issue of UN reform, the pros and cons of its existence, and its future prospects, before looking more closely at some of the recommendations. Despite its imperfections and the frequent criticisms levelled at it, the UN is still the most important and most comprehensive International Organization, and is clearly indispensable.
Today’s European Union (EU), as a supranational organization of 27 countries across the European continent, stands as an unprecedented phenomenon in the annals of history. With about half a billion people, the EU is the world’s largest economy. But even as the EU grows in size and prosperity, there appears to be a limit to how closely Europeans want to embrace a centralized European state. Firstly, Dr Peter Van Ham, Director of the Global Governance Research Program at the Clingendael Institute, explored the EU in general and focused on political matters. Among several contentious issues, he discussed whether the future Union would be wider and weaker, whether there would be a single European entity or many entities, whether the EU would be a global player or a regional “superpower”, and the nature of its relationship with the United States.
Secondly, Professor Julian Lindley-French, Professor of Military Art & Science at the Royal Military Academy of the Netherlands, offered his thoughts on EU-related defence and security issues, focusing on European Defense and Security Policy (ESDP). He called for strong leadership to ensure the successful transformation of European military forces, noting that now is the right strategic moment to take ESDP forward, while criticizing the gap between ambitions and resources.
The Study Period continued with a lecture on the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which is one of the least known international organizations. This is partly because of its origins as a low profile diplomatic process and also because much of its work relates to early warning and conflict prevention activities that do not make headline news. Dr Dov Lynch, Senior Advisor in the Office of Secretary General in OSCE Secretariat in Vienna, offered his views on the OSCE, its unique characteristics and its role in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict rehabilitation, before commenting on reform issues and likely prospects for the future.
The African Union (AU), a pan-African organization, was established to propel a united continent towards peace and prosperity. The AU succeeded the Organization of African Unity in 2002 and the critics question whether the AU can be more effective than its predecessor as its leaders are the same people who presided over the Organization of African Unity, an organization that became known as the “dictators’ club”. Dr Armando Manuel de Barros Serra Marques Guedes, professor at the New University of Lisbon, gave an in-depth lecture on the AU’s evolution as an organization for political and economic integration among its 53 member nations. He discussed its aims to boost development, help secure African democracy, eradicate poverty and bring Africa into the global economy by ending intra-African conflicts and creating an effective common market. Prof. Marques Guedes provided a wealth of information and gave thought- provoking answers to the excellent questions put to him during the discussion period.
Non-governmental organizations are playing an increasingly prominent role throughout the world, tackling issues that individual states alone either cannot address or choose to ignore. They are characterized by their great diversity and comprise a mass of different-sized organizations with various management structures and diverse missions.
To introduce us to NGOs and Civil Society, we welcomed Ms Marina Caparini, doctoral candidate in War Studies at King’s College, and Mr Marc Garlasco , a senior military analyst in Human Rights Watch Emergencies Division, one of the world’s largest and best known NGOs. The comments made by the two speakers underlined the fact that NGOs are here to stay and have become increasingly important global actors. They now compete with states and international organizations and can have an important influence on those who actually formulate policy. But are they the first step towards an “international civil society”, or do they represent a dangerous shift of power towards unelected and unaccountable special-interest groups?
Given the great importance of economic globalization and the role of transnational corporations, cartels and contractors as a part of it, a new topic was introduced into Senior Course 114’s academic curriculum. To discuss the “Multinational Corporations, Cartels and Contractors” and evaluate their influence on security and stability the College hosted Dr Marjan Svetlicic, Professor of International Economic Relations and Negotiations in the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana, and Mr Rem Korteweg, from the Hague Center for Strategic Studies. Dr Svetlicic’s lecture was focused on multinational corporations and their implications for peace and stability. Does the enhanced international commerce have a stabilizing effect over time? Can international commerce promote peace? Those and many more questions were answered in his presentation. Mr. Korteweg covered the role of Private Military Security Contractors and the implications of their involvement in the conflict zones. Do they cooperate with other actors or can they become part of a “Comprehensive Approach”? All those and many more issues were raised during his lectures and in the discussion period. Both lecturers succeeded in bringing about another interesting academic day at the NATO Defense College.
The key International Organizations were born in the aftermath of the Second World War and were all designed, in one way or another, to ensure that no such global conflagration occurred again. The contemporary international security environment is, of course, very different from the one that existed when these organizations were formed, and they have all had to evolve to adjust to the new challenges that they are facing. The need for change and reform is constant, a theme that the Senior Course 114 successfully and with great interest discussed and developed.
Prepared by Col. Daria DANIELS SKODNIK (SVN)
NATO Defense College