A brave new world: Adapting to a changing security landscape

In his current position, Jose Alberto de Azeredo Lopes has argued for the need for a new NATO strategic concept which would include coming closer to threats looming on the Alliance’s southern flank. A renowned academic, he was previously a Professor of International Law at the Catholic University of Porto, focusing on the right of peoples to self-determination, the use of force in international relations, human rights and the law of armed conflict. He has provided assistance to international organisations and participated in several international missions, particularly in Timor-Leste.

As Norwegian Minister of Defence, Frank Bakke-Jensen plays a crucial role in current preparations for the country’s hosting of one of NATO’s biggest exercises in decades, with some 40,000 forces expected to arrive in the country in October-November. A key Norwegian politician, Bakke-Jensen previously served as Minister of EEA and EU Affairs. He has been a member of the Norwegian Parliament since 2009, and previously served as Mayor of Båtsfjord. Before entering politics, he was the Managing Director of the Båtsfjord Travel Agency and has served in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon from 1990-1991.

Iryna is a Ukrainian civic activist and political expert with more than 15 years of research and teaching experience in identity-based conflicts. Originally from Crimea, she was an outspoken critic of Russian annexation and fled the region to avoid arrest, taking refuge in Kiev. She currently runs the Integration and Development Center for Information and Research, a non-governmental organisation, which focuses on training government officials and journalists in diversity management, on misconceptions and on stereotypes.

Zaina Erhaim has reported extensively on the Syrian revolution, and was among the few female journalists reporting from within the country. Erhaim was named the 2015 journalist of the year by Reporters without Borders, and one of the 100 Most Powerful Arab Women by Arabian Business in 2016. She has also received the first Annita Ausuburg Award for Rebel Woman Against the War of the Women International League for Peace and Freedom. Currently a Senior Media Specialist at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, she has trained hundreds of people to be citizen reporters, especially women.

In her current position, Lowri Evans is instrumental in the development of the European Defence Fund and other initiatives to support European industrial cooperation in defence research and the joint funding of defence capabilities, and provide a strong industrial base for the EU’s common security and defence policy (CSDP). With over 30 years of experience at the Commission, Evans has worked in several policy areas, notably in maritime affairs and fisheries, competition and employment. She started her professional career in audit and accountancy with Deloitte.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is a Dutch politician who notably served as the 11th Secretary-General of NATO. He also previously worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dutch delegation of the NATO headquarters in Brussels. He now works as President of the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) of the Netherlands, an independent body which advises government and parliament on foreign policy. Furthermore, he was appointed to the Pieter Kooijmans Chair for Peace, Law and Security at Leiden University.

In his current role, Edvinas Kerza is responsible for the Baltic state’s national cybersecurity policy. As an IT professional and an expert in all things cyber, Kerza was previously in charge of managing key information systems projects at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, and has participated in several international conferences on this subject. Kerza also previously served As Chief Specialist at the Permanent Representation to the European Union.

An expert in Korean politics, society, culture and economy, Youngmi Kim has focused her research on comparative politics, including the study of political parties, party systems and governability, and comparative regionalism. Prior to her position at the University of Edinburgh, she worked as an Associate Professor of international relations and public policy at the Central European University, where she directed the Global E-School in Eurasia, a large multi-country online education programme in Korean Studies. Her current research explores the rise of polarisation, inequality and political contention in South Korea and online political participation, activism and populism in Asia’s democracies.

Julian King was appointed to his current role in 2016 in the aftermath of the UK’s decision to leave the EU. King has previously served as a British Ambassador to France and Ireland, and held the position of Director General of the Northern Ireland Office. As a Commissioner, he has been responsible for steering the EU’s anti-terrorism strategy, building a sustainable Security Union, and strengthening the common response to further security threats such as organised crime, radicalisation, terrorist propaganda and cybercrime.

Helen Lackner has worked across Yemen since the 1970s and has written extensively about the country’s political economy as well as its social and economic issues, and now focuses on trying to promote equitable development and peace. She has also worked as a consultant in social aspects of rural development for four decades, mostly in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Her most recent publications include ‘Yemen’s peaceful transition from autocracy: could it have succeeded?’ and ‘Understanding the Yemeni crisis: the transformation of tribal roles in recent decades’.  

Elham Saudi has been actively working on investigating human rights violations in Libya since 2011. She has advised a number of Libyan, European and international bodies in relation to the conflict in Libya, including the National Transitional Council in Libya on a number of matters of international law, including drafting of its guidelines for opposition fighting, and is also an Associate Fellow at Chatham House. She is a regular commentator on the situation in Libya on the BBC, Radio 4, Channel 4 News, and Al Jazeera. 

An expert on the nexus of technology, society and security, Frank Sauer is Head of Research of the METIS Project, a pilot project focusing on strategically relevant questions of international politics and interlinking academic inquiry and policy practice. Sauer is also a member of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control and the International Panel on the Regulation of Autonomous Weapons. His research focuses on nuclear issues, terrorism, cyber security as well as the military application of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.

Retiring from NATO in September 2018 after 38 years at the organisation, Jamie Shea has occupied a number of senior positions at NATO across a wide range of areas, including external relations, press and media, and policy planning. As NATO’s spokesperson, he was the face of the alliance during the Bosnia and Kosovo conflicts. He later worked as the director of policy planning in the private office of former secretary general Rasmussen during the preparation of NATO’s 2010 Strategic Concept. Shea is also a regular lecturer and conference speaker on NATO and European security affairs.

Paul Taylor is a Senior Fellow at Friends of Europe and the author of the think tank’s European Defence Cooperation report series. He previously spent four decades working for Reuters as a foreign correspondent in Paris, Tehran, Bonn and Brussels, as bureau chief in Israel/Palestine, Berlin and Brussels, as chief correspondent in France, as diplomatic editor in London, and finally as European affairs editor. Taylor’s assignments have included covering the Iranian revolution, the Cold War Euromissile crisis, the 1991 Gulf War, German reunification, the Maastricht summit, France in the 1990s, EU enlargement, the Eurozone crisis and the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt.

In addition to coordinating the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, an international coalition of NGOs working to preemptively ban fully autonomous weapons, Mary Wareham is the Arms Division Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch, leading advocacy against weapons posing a significant threat to civilians. She previously served as Advocacy Director for Oxfam New Zealand, leading efforts to secure an arms trade treaty and the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, and also worked for the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, assisting Jody Williams in coordinating the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.