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Geneva Security Forum

The greatest challenge to civilisation is the upsurge in terrorism in the world, this threat force-multiplied manifold since the 9/11 benchmark. Meant to contain and eliminate this menace, the war waged almost solely by govts has instead resulted in proliferation of terrorism. Annunciation of mission statement requires clarity, it is now abundantly clear that in both Afghanistan and Iraq this was ambiguous, the real objective being regime and systems change.  Because the Talibaan refused to give up Osama Bin Laden, the perpetrator of 9/11, in fact seeming to condone his actions, their removal from governance of Afghanistan was justifiable.  The exercise in Iraq had oil written all over it, the script to dominate the Middle East calling for the overthrow of the Syrian and Iranian regimes by peaceful political means if possible, by force if not.  Once political and military aims are at cross purposes, the resulting tactical confusion affects strategic objectives.

While Saddam Hussain was a tyrant whose grandiose-regional ambitions had fueled grievous wars with his neighbours, the conduct of the peace after the quick and decisive US victory in 2003 has been abysmal, destabilising the country’s fragile sectarian and ethnic balance. Resulting in a virtual state of civil war, it has spawned a hard core of disparate militant outfits using terrorist methods to try and vacate the US occupation as well as fighting amongst themselves. The fallout of these two wars has increased the sense of oppression and frustration among muslims all over the world, particularly the youth, fertile ground for recruitment to terrorist cadres.

The threat level has increased dramatically after 9/11, the recurring nightmare for western analysts being the possibility of nuclear, biological and chemical attacks on large populations.  Advancement in high-tech, particularly in IT and the internet, has made counter-terrorism that much more difficult. Terrorists are increasingly targetting vulnerable economic units, economic disruption having much more cause and effect than taking casualties in attacking military or other law enforcement agency installations.   When  factories  are  attacked   there  are  losses in manpower, production slows down or ceases. When offices are attacked, human losses are irrecoverable along with data loss. In many countries “Disaster Recovery” mechanisms, duplicate data stored in secure locations, is now mandatory by law. The private sector previously took a back seat to the public sector in countering criminality and subsequently terrorism, it finds it cost effective to shore up its defenses by supporting and collaborating with Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). Security has become a growth industry of some consequence, a public sector–private sector partnership making not only economic but political and logistics sense.

The “Geneva Security Forum” is the brainchild of Ambassador Daniel Stauffacher, formerly of the Swiss Foreign Service and Carlos Moreira, Chairman & Managing Director WiSeKey Switzerland , formerly Head of Security at the UN.  This initiative had a preliminary meeting during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2005 in Davos.  A Strategic Advisory Group was set up to work out the agenda for a full-fledged Conference in October 2007.  This core group, consisting of about 40 of the world’s leading economic, political and security analysts met in Oct 2006 in Geneva to map out the topics to be debated in the Forum in Oct 2007. The expert personalities included Ayad Alawi, Former PM of Iraq, Hilary J. Bowker, Denis Caillaux, Secretary-General, Care International Secretariat, Switzerland, Maria Livanos Cattaui, Vice-Chairman, International Crisis Group, Ambassador Thomas Greminger, Head of Political Affairs and Human Security, Switzerland, Joseph Ingram, Special Representative World Bank to the UN and WTO, Geneva, Abdulaziz Sager, Chairman, Gulf Research Centre, Dubai, Andre Schneider, Managing Director and COO, World Economic Forum, Geneva, etc. Pakistan being at the cutting edge of terrorism, our voice needs to be heard to correct many wrong perceptions. I had the honour and privilege to be a participant in my professional capacity.

Moderated by Hilary Bowker, the Strategic Advisory Meeting on stated the aim to be, viz “the Geneva Security Forum is  committed  to  assessing  the interconnections for international security threats and to advising flexible fast-moving responses”. The opening remark of by Co-Founder Ambassador Daniel Stauffacher was followed by a brainstorming session identifying key thematic issues for the agenda.  Co-Founder Carlos Moreira, gave a latest briefing on IT and Security and what we can expect in the short and medium term. The session identified the key issues and how the global community can best prepare for the challenges ahead. Sandeep Waslekar, President Strategic Foresight Group, India than gave a briefing on the hotspots of today and security issues and challenges we are likely to face over the next 3-10 years. Why am I not surprised that he glossed over the 200000 Naxalites (among other terrorists galore in India ) and concentrated on “Islamic Terrorism”?

Among the issues deliberated upon, viz (1) security of transportation networks, strategic industries,  populated areas and public utilities (2) capability of national and international IT system in ensuring efficiency in emergency preparedness and response (3) how to remain one step ahead of the hacker in security of information technology? (4) how IT can contribute to global security solutions? (5) key security issues for business including security of financial flows, supply chains and movement of peoples and goods across borders (6) reinforcing diplomatic networks to present communications breakdown (7) increase cooperation between international agencies in the face of natural disasters, pandemics and crises resulting in mass movement of peoples (8) role of military retaliation and intervention (9) coordination of civilian and humanitarian elements in case of conflicts (10) managing security issues in peace-keeping operations (11) institutional and political reform needed to stabilize countries in difficult situations to prevent political exclusion, this process better supported by non-partisan actors (12) role of private security firms in conflict situations and rules and mechanism to monitor non-state actors in conflict zones (13) programs to deal with young populations like in the Middle East, with minimal social – economic opportunities (14) programs of health and security in preparing for chemical or biological attack (15) shoring up and modernizing educational programs to prevent large-scale exclusion and (16) assessing how extremism uses impoverished population and actions to be taken.

The Strategic Advisory Group decided on what to offer participants in Oct 2007 and what was required to make the Forum a substantive security symposium for useful networking for business as well as a learning opportunity.  The Meeting focussed on, viz (1) the primary objectives (2) the possible audience (3) value-addition (4) need and expectation of different constituencies (5) the message to be sent to the global community. The Advisory Group confirmed the proposals for focus and value-addition for a Trade Show and Training Modules. In sum, the Geneva Security Forum set the strategic priorities that should be invaluable for the private sector to assist the public sector in not only fighting terrorism but also organized crime in the future.

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