Challenges of a Common Security Policy in Eurasia

With the participation of transform! europe, the International Peace Bureau and the Asia-Europe People’s Forum organize this workshop focusing on the challenges of a Common Security Policy in Eurasia.

The Peace and Security Circle of the Asia- Europe People Forum (AEPF) is a critical part of the Forum that collectively understands, analyses, interprets and formulates alternative responses and actions on issues of peace, security, conflicts, threats and opportunities in Asia and Europe as envisioned by the people’s movements of this region.

Peace and security in a changing world order

Since 2016, the world has experienced major events which are likely to greatly affect the world’s order as well as peace and security. These events include: Brexit; Trump becoming the US President; the rise of aggressive xenophobic leadership in many countries that advocate and overlook violence in order to endorse their agendas; wars, conflicts and tension in regions as diverse as Ukraine, Libya, Syria, Palestine, the Korean Peninsula, South China Sea/West Philippine Sea/East Sea; the non-Resolution of many low intensity and frozen conflicts and the potential rise of ethnic and identity conflicts; etc. Besides, increasing military spending, foreign military bases, terrorism, internal conflicts, territorial disputes, militarization and the nuclear arms race, neo-racism, refugee crisis, oppression of minorities and xenophobic nationalism have been threatening people’s lives and peace and security.

A policy of confrontation, especially between NATO and Russia has increasingly prevailed in Europe. The nuclear weapons of all nations are being modernized.

On the other hand we can also observe positive steps towards peace, such as the incidents on the Korean Peninsula both between the US and North Korea as well as between both Korean nations.

But we should not forget – the continuous force and spread of the terror group calling itself the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist movements have used violence as a way of threatening the world’s security.

In such a context, the Peace and Security Circle of the AEPF plans to coordinate with peace movements and people’s organizations; research and scholars in academic communities and institutions in Asia and Europe to organize various activities/ campaigns to create effective synergies in the struggle for peace and to find the better way to respond. The emergence of social movements that seek to find alternative solutions to recurring as well as new problems should be encouraged.

Currently, Southeast Asia faces continued difficulties in peace and human security in the effort of the world’s superpowers to maintain economic and political hegemony over our countries.

Challenges: Reimagining a Common Security

New alternatives for common security policy and –architecture in Europe and Asia are urgently needed. Those alternatives should take into account the positive experiences of the policy of détente from the 1970s and 80s. A Common Security Policy (also known as Collective Security Policy) should serve as the basis of this new security architecture.

The term originates from the title of the Palme-report Common Security: A Blueprint for Survival, which was the conclusion of the Independent Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues (Palme Commission, 1980-1982) presided by Sweden’s Prime Minister Olof Palme.

The key message of the study reads:
“In the present time security cannot be achieved one-sided. We live in a world, which economic, political, cultural and in particular military structures are increasingly dependent of each other. The public safety of a nation cannot be bought at the expense of other nations.”

This security philosophy developed by Willi Brandt, Bruno Kreisky, Olaf Palme and others US based upon the principle: the security of a state can only be guaranteed if the security of the other (the opponent) is guaranteed as well. The key principles that define this term of common security are “interdependence”, “joint responsibility” and “security for” instead of “security against.”

Organizations hosting the conference: International Peace Bureau (IPB), Asia-Europe People’s Forum  (AEPF)

Registration
send an email to info@ipb-office.berlin

for further information: click on the IPB website;