6 minute read
2 | Impact
by GCSP
PART 2
Impact
Two reasons for celebration
Both the Leadership in International Security Course (formerly the International Training Course) and the European Security Course (formerly the European Training Course) had milestone anniversaries in 2021. Both have given generations of leaders the tools to address the most important security challenges in Europe and the world.
Thirty-five years ago, after the 1985 Geneva Summit between US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, the Swiss government identified the pressing need to strengthen national expertise in the field of disarmament and international security. In response this need, the predecessor of today’s Leadership in International Security Course (LISC) – the International Training Course in Security Policy (ITC) – was designed, offering an exclusive nine-month training programme for government officials. This effectively constituted the roots of the GCSP itself, which was founded almost ten years later. A total of 841 representatives from governments, academia, the private sector and civil society in 90 states have graduated from the LISC since its creation in 1986. The world has seen a great deal of change since then. Colonel (GS) Hans Eberhart, one of the first ITC alumni in 1989-90, gives his retrospective view on the course and the transformative events that have taken place since it was first presented:
Within a year the small class of six European and three Swiss students found themselves caught up, among other things, in the turmoil of the revolution of 1989, the warning signs of the First Gulf War and the disintegration of Yugoslavia. The ITC taught us to distinguish clearly among the selection of facts we might be faced with and nurtured the curiosity to address the issues of comprehensive security and the stability of other regions.”
The LISC celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2021 with several online activities, including a panel bringing together alumni and former faculty members who gave their perspectives on “The (N)ever Changing International Security Landscape 1986-2021”.
This was a course that, in many respects, was extremely useful and produced results. And it produced something which is the backbone of every attempt to deal with security policy. It created networks. [...] We all fitted into a restaurant at the beginning. But since then, the various networks [the] GCSP has been building and maintaining and supporting cannot be overestimated in their importance and relevance”,
said Ambassador Theodor Winkler, the GCSP’s first Director, whose role was crucial in the founding of the course.
25 years of navigating the challenges facing European security
European security architecture and its influence on the world have been discussed since 1997 in the European Security Course (ESC) (formerly the European Training Course, or ETC). The course has expanded steadily since then, and includes an increasing number of participants from both in and outside Europe. A total of 565 alumni from 86 countries across the globe have attended the course since its foundation.
The ESC educates civilian and military officials from national ministries of foreign affairs and defence, other relevant administrative departments, and civil society who want to better understand the wide range of security challenges facing Europe and address solutions to these challenges. For Malena Rembe, alumna of the 2009 ETC, the knowledge she gained from the course has accompanied her in her career as a humanitarian expert in crisisafflicted areas.
In Afghanistan, for example, I have worked both in security sector reform and in more traditional humanitarian work in health care, education, and empowerment. The ETC... gave me a broader and deeper understanding of European security policy and how policies and politics influence both attention to and responses given to humanitarian needs. It also gave me a fantastic network of colleagues and friends from all over the world.”
The ESC celebrated its 25th anniversary with a dynamic virtual panel arranged by alumni entitled “25 Years of Learning Journey through European Security”.
Advancing inclusive leadership in mediation
In recent years the UN, its member states, and regional groups have sought to professionalise mediation and improve its effectiveness in both preventing and responding to conflict, and a key strategy has been the creation of networks of women mediators. The GCSP has developed both policy analysis and courses to bridge leadership skills and tools with mediation practice in order to support more effective and inclusive mediation.
In 2020 the GCSP partnered with Durham University to develop a course for the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network entitled Leadership in Mediation: Visibility, Influence and Impact, which was delivered virtually over five days in June and August for 20 participants from 11 countries working in civil society, academia, government and international organisations.
In 2021 the GCSP collaborated with the League of Arab States on a joint project between the League’s social affairs sector – the Department of Women, Family and Childhood – and UN Women entitled “Women, Security and Peace in the Arab Region” to develop a second training programme for members of the Arab Women Mediators Network. The Leading Mediation course was delivered over a two-week period in September through a virtual platform.
TESTIMONIALS
The Mediterranean Women Mediators Network plays a critical role in bridging mediation tracks and diversifying the field of mediation. This course was stimulating and inspirational, allowing participants to link their personal experiences with theoretical concepts. It has prepared our members to harness their individual and collective strengths to lead effectively in a changing environment. A particularly valuable tool was ’polarity thinking’, which equipped them to deal with the inherent tensions within themselves – their own biases and values – and those that arise in conflict”
Irene Fellin, former Head of Secretariat, now NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women Peace and Security
The GCSP designed a high-level training program, specially tailored to suit the Arab Women Mediators Network members’ extensive experience in the field of negotiation and mediation with a focus on mediation best practices, including enhancing mediators’ skills to strengthen their endeavors, knowledge of tensions in mediation processes and ways to structure and capitalize on them.”
Dina Douay, Minister Plenipotentiary Director, Women, Family and Childhood Directorate, Social Affairs Sector, League of Arab States
Promoting implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty in Latin America
Since 2014 the GCSP has been providing in-person and virtual executive education courses in English and French on the subject of Building Capacity for Effective Implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
In 2021, with financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and in partnership with the UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, for the first time the GCSP offered a course in Spanish especially designed for Latin American countries. Some 50 participants joined the four-day virtual course, mainly government officials involved in the implementation of the ATT and representatives from civil society. It is expected that, as a community of practice, thanks to the skills and knowledge they received and the experiences they shared, these participants will contribute to a more responsible international conventional arms trade, improved cooperation in the fight against illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons, and eventually a reduction of human suffering.
The course Building Capacity for Effective Implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was a great opportunity for me, first to understand in detail the importance of the ATT and its implementation, but also to know colleagues from the Latin American region that are currently working on its implementation. The course created a network of practitioners committed to the Treaty, who can share good practices and help others strengthen their national capacities. It is also important to highlight the level and practical knowledge of the speakers, which allow us to better understand their presentations and the relevance of the ATT for international peace and security.”
Diana Castillo, Permanent Mission of Colombia to the UN in Geneva
