Summer Workshop: GCSP Summer Workshop 2012: "Managing Partnerships and Designing Exit Strategies for EU Crisis Management Operations" Sponsored by the European Commission (COST Programme), Geneva, Switzerland

The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) is pleased to announce its upcoming Summer Workshop entitled "Managing Partnerships and Designing Exit Strategies for EU Crisis Management Operations".
The workshop is targeted to PhD candidates and post-doctoral fellows working on EU security policy, with a focus on inter-institutional cooperation and exit strategies in the broad field of crisis management. The workshop aims to provide a platform for scholarly exchange – giving participants an opportunity to showcase their research and receive feedback on findings and research methodologies. Through these exchanges, participants should attain new insights, become aware of additional academic sources for consideration, and receive suggestions to improve their papers in view of a possible publication. Moreover, the workshop aims to promote new networks among researchers working on related fields.
The workshop will consist of a series of participant presentations. Specifically, each participant will be invited to present his/her paper after which they receive feedback from the other participants and workshop directors. A select number of guest speakers will likewise be asked to present during the workshop.
The workshop will take place at the premises of the GCSP in Geneva from 9 to 12 July 2012. Its working language will be English.

Workshop Topic and Learning Objectives

The overarching theme of the workshop is cooperation across multidimensional peace operations involving several international institutions and how these partnerships influence and shape exit strategies.
When examining this topic, a variety of dimensions might be considered. For example, do partnerships facilitate or complicate institutional exit strategies? What elements (e.g. benchmarks, assessment methods, types of partnerships) should be taken into account when devising an exit strategy? To what degree should exit strategies depend on local capacity building and ownership? Are exit strategies increasingly focusing on “end dates” as opposed to “end states”?
Examples of themes that are likely to be covered and discussed during the workshop include:
The EU as a security actor: achievements and limits
The role of partnerships in the development of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP): added-value, rationale, constraints
Strategic planning and exit strategies in CSDP operations
Analysis of EU institutional partnerships (EU-UN; EU-NATO; EU-AU; EU-IFIs, etc.) and how these different institutions cooperate in the design and implementation of exit strategies
Case studies 

 

Workshop Directors
Dr Gustav Lindstrom

Dr Gustav Lindstrom is Head of the Euro-Atlantic Security Programme and Course Director of the European Training Course in Security Policy (ETC) at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP). He received his doctorate in Policy Analysis from the RAND Graduate School and M.A. in International Policy Studies from Stanford University. Prior to his tenure at the GCSP, Dr Lindstrom served as a Senior Research Fellow at the EU Institute for Security Studies. He has published widely on transatlantic relations, Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), homeland security, terrorism, and non-proliferation. His latest publications include “The EU Battlegroups: Options for the future”, Studia Diplomatica, No. 1, Vol. LXIV, The Royal Institute for International Relations, Brussels, 2011 and “Transboundary Applications of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)”, PANORAMA 2010, Centre for European and North Atlantic Affairs, Bratislava, 2011.

Application Procedure and Selection

PhD candidates and post-doctoral fellows (e.g. in the field of political science and international relations) are encouraged to apply.
To be considered, an application should include:
A one-page letter of motivation;
A research paper (3,000 to 4,000 words) on a topic related to the overall theme of the workshop;
A Curriculum Vitae;
Names of two references (with complete contact information, including phone number)
Applicants should e-mail their complete application to Ms Saskia Salzmann (s.salzmann@gcsp.ch) by Monday 30 April 2012. A selection committee will review the applications and up to fifteen participants may be selected.
Applicants will be notified of the selection committee’s decision by Wednesday 9 May 2012.

Participants’ Stipend

The Workshop is sponsored by the European Commission through the COST Action IS0805 on “New challenges of peacekeeping and the European Union’s role in multilateral crisis management”. As such, participants will receive a stipend that should cover travel and accommodation expenses, as well as some meals during the workshop.

Location: Geneva, Switzerland

Venue: GCSP

 

Workshop Website