5th Annual ISDP–AMS Joint Conference

5th Annual ISDP–AMS Joint Conference

Crisis Management

Stockholm, October 19–21, 2012

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The Institute for Security and Development Policy (Sweden) and the PLA Academy of Military Science (China) will hold our fifth annual joint conference on October 19-21, 2012 in Stockholm. The topic of this year’s conference is crisis management. The conference aims to bring together policy makers and experts from the academic, military and government sectors to discuss the evolving art of responding effectively to crises in the twenty-first century. Participation is by invitation only.

Governments are faced today by a range of eventualities that have little in common with one another beyond the need for rapid and effective responses, possibly involving coordination between multiple different civilian and military authorities. The past decade has seen incidents of terrorist attacks, natural disasters, industrial accidents and outbreaks of pandemic diseases in various countries around the world, which have presented challenges that governments have met with often mixed results. The coming decade may well see new kinds of crises emerge, e.g. if cyber-weapons are successfully deployed in an attack on critical infrastructure, disabling power and communications systems.

States also face crises beyond their borders, as when the security of citizens overseas is threatened by kidnappings, hijackings and piracy. Moreover, a political emergency in one state can represent a crisis for another, as when states need to respond to events such as civil wars, coups d’état and regime collapses in neighboring countries.

The approach taken to managing such crises is deeply informed by a country’s political system, domestic situation and foreign policy orientation, all of which differ greatly from one state to another. However, the questions raised by thinking about issues of crisis response have a general relevance, e.g. how should responsibilities be distributed across civilian and military authorities in times of crisis? How should the chain of command be structured? In an era of social media and rapid electronic communications, how should accurate information be disseminated to the public without causing panic? How should information be shared within and between states in times of crisis? What can we learn from the handling of past crises to better prepare us to manage future ones?

This conference will bring together leading experts from Sweden, China and several other countries for presentations on and an exchange of opinions about the topic of crisis management.

 

Participants

Major General He Lei, Chief of Scientific Research Guidance Department, PLA Academy of Military Science (AMS), China

Maj. Gen. He Lei is currently serving as Chief of the Department of Scientific Research Guidance, Academy of Military Science (AMS), PLA. He was born in June 1955, joined the People’s Liberation Army in 1972, and became a member of the CPC in Jan. 1972. Since joining the PLA in 1972, Mr. He Lei has served in succession as an enlisted soldier, squad leader, commander at the level of company, battalion and regiment. He was once a staff officer at an army corps. After being reassigned to the Academy of Military Science, he worked in sequence as a Research Fellow, Deputy Office Director and Office Director at the Department of Operational Theory and Doctrine Studies. Prior to his current position, he was the Deputy Chief of the Department of Military Development and later Deputy Chief and Chief of the Department of Operational Theory and Doctrine Studies. He graduated from Xuanhua Artillery Academy with a BA degree. Later he also attended various courses at the National Defense University of PLA, the General Staff Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and the Postgraduate Department of the CPC Central Party School. Maj. Gen. He chaired or participated in over 40 research projects for the Central Military Commission and General Departments.

Dr. Niklas Swanström, Director, Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), Sweden

Niklas L.P. Swanström is the Director of the Institute for Security and Development Policy and a Research Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. His main areas of expertise are conflict prevention, conflict management and regional cooperation; Central Asian security and organized crime; Chinese foreign policy and security in Northeast Asia. Selected books: Sino-Japanese Relations: The need for Conflict Prevention and Management; Conflict Prevention and Conflict Management in Northeast Asia; Transnationell brottslighet: ett säkerhetshot? (Transnational crime: a security threat); Regional Cooperation and Conflict Management: Lessons from the Pacific Rim; Foreign Devils, Dictatorship or Institutional Control: China’s foreign policy towards Southeast Asia and Eurasia’s Ascent in Energy and Geopolitics: Rivalry or Partnership for China, Russia, and Central Asia? (with Robert Bedeski). Dr. Swanström holds a Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University.

Senior Colonel Fan Gaoyue, Research Fellow at the World Military Studies Department, PLA AMS

Gaoyue FAN, Senior Colonel of the People’s Liberation Army, is now a research fellow and chief specialist at the PLA Academy of Military Science in Beijing. His research interests include US military affairs, international security and cooperation, international arms control and disarmament. He studied at Jilin University and the Southwest China Normal University where he received an MA in British and American English Language and Literature. He studied as a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania for a year and was a residence WDS-Handa Fellow at the Pacific Forum CSIS for half a year. He served as an infantryman, staff officer and English instructor. He has published a dozen books, such as Iraq War: The First War Characterized by the Information Age; Joint Operations and Training of US Armed Forces; US Special Forces and about 300 articles, such as An Anatomy of US National Defense Strategy; US Military Transformation and its Main Features, and The Nonlinear and Asymmetric Operations that Lead Modern Warfare.

Colonel Wang Xiaobin, Research Fellow at the War Theory and Strategic Studies Department, PLA AMS

Colonel Wang Xiaobin holds a graduate degree and is a Research Fellow at the department of War Theory and Strategic Studies of the Academy of Military Science. He has been studying national security strategy and national defense policies for a long time. In 2004, he went to study at the National Defense College of Pakistan and was a military observer in Liberia in 2007. During these years, he completed 40 projects, including national social science projects, temporary tasks from the headquarters and many plan subjects from AMS. His academic works include Defense White Paper, Security Strategy in Asia Pacific Region, Strategic Review, Soldiers and Wars– Iraq War Reviews, Studies on Armed Forces Response to Non-traditional Threats and Political Work in Military Operations other than War, etc. He has also delivered nearly 50 papers on international hot topics and China’s security strategy in its peripheral regions.

Dr. Wang Dong, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Northeast Asian Strategic Studies at the School of International Studies, Peking University

Wang Dong is Associate Professor in the School of International Studies and Director of the Center for Northeast Asian Strategic Studies at Peking University. Wang Dong received his bachelor in law from Peking University and M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Wang had taught at York College of Pennsylvania, with a tenure-track appointment, before joining the faculty of Peking University. Dr. Wang has written extensively on international relations and China’s foreign policy. His scholarly articles and reviews appear in leading academic and news outlets both at home and abroad. Dr. Wang has served as an anonymous reviewer for leading academic journals. His current research interests include: Cold War international history, U.S.-China relations, American Foreign Policy, Chinese foreign policy, and international security.

Major General (Ret) Karlis Neretnieks

Major General Karlis Neretnieks, Major General (Ret) is currently conducting research on security in the Baltic Sea area. He is a former president of the Swedish National Defence College and also served as: special advisor at the Swedish Ministry of Defence on Baltic State security; Chief of Operations in the Central Joint Command; Commander of Swedish Armed Forces International Centre; Commander of 18th Mechanized Brigade, and Head of Department in the Army Staff. Major General Neretnieks graduated from both the Swedish and Norwegian General Staff courses and also pursued academic studies at L’Institut universitaire de hautes études internationales in Geneva. He is a fellow and board member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences. He is also a board member of the Swedish Atlantic Council.

Ambassador Tomas Rosander

Ambassador Rosander was appointed Counter-terrorism Coordinator at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm in October 2008. Between the years 2003 and 2007 Mr. Rosander served as Consul General for the western United States, stationed in Los Angeles, California. Prior to that, Mr. Rosander was deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Sweden in London, U.K. (1998-2003). Mr. Rosander served as political officer at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C. (1986-89) and in Tehran, Iran (1984-86). Serving at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm, Mr. Rosander’s tasks have mostly been in the area of European security policy and transatlantic relations. Prior to joining the Foreign Service in 1983, Mr. Rosander was a producer and foreign news reporter at Swedish Radio, dealing extensively with eastern European affairs, with shorter postings as a correspondent in Hong Kong and Moscow.

Dr. Fredrik Bynander, Research Director at CRISMART at the Swedish National Defence College and Chairman of the Center for Natural Disaster Science at Uppsala University

Fredrik Bynander is Research Director at CRISMART at the Swedish National Defence College and chairman of the Center for Natural Disaster Science at Uppsala University. His published work concerns crisis management, leadership succession, intelligence studies and foreign policy analysis. Until recently, Fredrik was head of unit for strategic planning at the Crisis Coordination Secretariat in the Swedish Prime Minister’s Office.

Professor Akiko Yamanaka, Former Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan

Akiko Yamanaka is Former Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and a former Member of the House of Representatives. She is currently a Senior Visiting Scholar at Churchill College and a Senior Diplomatic Fellow at the Cambridge Central Asia Forum, University of Cambridge. Her areas of expertise include Intercultural Studies, International Peace-Building and Preventive State Theory, International Negotiation and Strategic Studies. On these and other subjects, she has written and lectured extensively and internationally. She is currently working on Human Security, especially Water Security, Energy Security and Food Security as well as Natural and Human Induced Disaster Prevention.

She is currently also serving as a Professor at the Science Academy of Chiba University of Commerce, Research Advisor at the Institute of International Policy Studies, Senior Advisor at Wilton Park, and member of the Advisory Group on International Peace Co-operation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan.

Dr. Jun Kurihara, Research Director, Canon Institute for Global Studies (Japan)

Professor Kurihara is a Research Director at the Canon Institute for Global Studies (CIGS), a Tokyo-based private think tank, and a visiting professor at Kwansei Gakuin University. His major concerns are international relations and the globalization strategies of multinational companies. Last year, his expertise on crisis management attracted the attention of Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, chairman of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Committee (NAIIC) of the National Diet of Japan. Accordingly, this year he joined the NAIIC as a research staff member. Between 2003 and 2012, he was a resident senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). At Harvard, he made a presentation regarding the nuclear accident immediately after the Fukushima tragedy (‘Letters from Quake-hit Japan: Stories Unfolding amidst Tragedies’ presented at the ‘Disaster Management in Asia’ seminar series and ‘Japan in Crisis: Exploring the Consequences of a Cascading Disaster’, at HKS, March 22, 2011). In addition, he published numerous English papers and essays regarding Japan’s globalization and Japan’s industrial revitalization, including ‘Japan’s Electronics Companies: In Search of Strategies for the ‘New Economy’ Era’ (in Regional Strategies in a Global Economy, edited by René Haak and Dennis S. Tachiki, Munich: Iudicium Verlag, December 2004), and “Economic Development Strategies for Northeast China: A Study of the Electronic Components Industry” (a paper presented for the World Bank, March 2005). He also published a book in Japanese, Nihon no Chishiki Senryaku [Rethinking Japan’s Knowledge Strategy], Tokyo: Keio University Press, November 2005. He is currently supervising the Japanese translation of a book written by Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve on the Great Depression (Essays on the Great Depression).

Nick Haycock, Assistant Director, Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance, Cabinet Office (UK)

Nick Haycock joined the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance (OCSIA) in March 2009, and has specific responsibilities in the area of international security, norms of behavior, and advancing bilateral and multilateral cybersecurity relationships. He has led the UK’s work on developing norms of behavior for cyberspace, and was an integral part of the team that planned and delivered the London Conference on Cyberspace in November 2011. He has also represented the UK’s position in various multilateral bodies, including the OSCE and OECD. He has been nominated as the UK Government’s expert representative on the United Nations Group of Government Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security, which is due to report to the UN General Assembly in 2013. Prior to joining OCSIA, he was Head of Information Assurance Policy at the UK’s National Technical Authority for Information Assurance (CESG) based in Cheltenham, and has held a range of security related and other posts in that organization. He has also worked in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, serving in the UK’s embassies in Moscow, Rabat, and Ulan Bator.

Dr. Cécile Wendling, Research Fellow, Fondation nationale des sciences politiques, Paris (France)

Dr. Cécile Wendling is a research fellow at the Fondation nationale des sciences politiques in Paris. She conducts research on risks and crises (natural disasters, pandemics, industrial catastrophes, among others). She currently works on nuclear risks after Fukushima. Prior to this position, she worked at the Institute for Strategic Research (IRSEM) at the French Ministry of Defence. She serves as an expert for the French national safety agency social science committee (ANSES) and the OECD high-level risk forum. She has published articles in the Journal of Risk Research and in the Journal of contingencies and crises management.

Dr. Liselotte Odgaard, Associate Professor, Institute for Strategy, Royal Danish Defence College

Dr. Liselotte Odgaard is an associate professor at the Institute for Strategy, Royal Danish Defence College, Denmark. Her areas of expertise include international relations, Asia-Pacific security and China studies. In 2008–9 she was a residential fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. She recently published China and Coexistence: Beijing’s National Security Strategy for the Twenty-First Century (Woodrow Wilson Center Press / Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012).

Dr. Chang Kwoun Park, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Security and Strategy, Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (ROK)

Park Chang Kwoun (retired captain, Korean navy), is a senior research fellow at the Center for Security and Strategic Studies at KIDA (Korean Institute for Defense Analyses). He graduated from the ROK Naval Academy in 1981 with a major in electronics, received an MA in International Relations from the Korea National Defense University in 1989, and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Missouri-Columbia (US) in 1995. He worked in the policy and strategy division of the Ministry of National Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff of ROK for several years. He joined KIDA in 2003 and worked as the Director of the Center for Security and Strategy from 2007 to 2008 and also as the Director of Defense Strategy Studies from 2009 to February 2012. He coauthored Korea’s Security and Defense: Strategy and Policy in 2009, Changing Directions in US-China Relations and ROK’s Future Strategy in 2010, and Medium and Long Term Security Strategies of South Korea and Directions for its Defense Development in 2011. He also wrote many articles on defense policy and strategy issues, including “ROK-US cooperation in preparation for hostile actions by North Korea in possession of nuclear weapons,” “Proliferation Security Initiative and North Korea.”