GLOBSEC 2012

The 7th annual Bratislava Global Security Forum GLOBSEC took place on the 12th – 14th of April, 2012 in Bratislava, Slovakia. Prominent politicians and diplomats, renowned experts on foreign affairs and security, business leaders and media met in Bratislava. With the participation of over 500 key stakeholders from more than 40 countries ranging from America and Asia to Africa, GLOBSEC has become a prominent annual forum on foreign policy and security in Europe and North America. The topics of the GLOBSEC 2012 Forum reflected the pressing issues of international foreign policy, security and economy that have a profound implication on the international order.

Bruegel was partner of the forum, together with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The forum was organized by the Slovak Atlantic Commission in cooperation with renowned non-governmental organizations such as the Konrad Adenaur Stiftung and the Atlantic Council, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well in cooperation with the International Visegrad Fund.

The Forum brought interesting discussion formats, informal meetings and receptions. Traditionally, the Forum has become a platform for so called „corridor diplomacy,“ creating a platform for important behind-the-scenes discussion and focused policy sessions well beyond the official programme.

The importance of this year's conference was enhanced by the fact that GLOBSEC 2012 was the last major foreign policy event before the NATO Chicago Summit in May. Therefore, GLOBSEC provided a platform for informal expert and political discussions on the key issues on the table for Chicago.

As well as questions of international security, the Forum also addressed the on-going European economic crisis and the changing global economic and geopolitical landscape in two sessions, which were co-organised by Bruegel. These two sessions were the following:

Thursday, 12 April 2012

15:30 – 17:00 Session 1: European Economic Integration: Saving the Union from Itself

Chair: Peter Spiegel, Brussels Bureau Chief, Financial Times, Brussels

1. John Fitzgerald, Adjunct Professor, Trinity College Dublin and President of the Irish Economic Association
2. Jean Pisani-Ferry, Director, Bruegel, Brussels
3. Giulio Tremonti, Professor of Law, University of Pavia; Member of the Italian Parliament; Chairman of the Aspen Institute Italia, Rome

Saturday, 14 April 2012

12:30 – 14:00 Session 8: Post-Crisis Global Governance: Whose Rules?

Chair: TBA

1. Ignazio Angeloni, Adviser to the ECB Executive Board, Frankfurt and Visiting Fellow, Bruegel, Brussels
2. Dmitri Suslov, Deputy Director for Research, Council on Foreign and Defence Policy, Moscow
3. Jim O'Neill, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, London
4. Liming Wang, Director, Confucius Institute for Ireland, University College Dublin

Bruegel comments on issues that will be discussed at GLOBSEC 2012

• André Sapir, Can the G20 save globalisation?
• Jean Pisani-Ferry, André Sapir, Guntram Wolff, EU - euro-area governance - a messy rebuilding

For more information, please visit www.globsec.org.