Event Recap | Global Perspectives on Future Security Trends

After the success of the first The Hague Strategic Foresight Forum Talks ‘Navigating Tomorrow: Transatlantic Outlooks on the Future Security Landscape and its Implications for the Netherlands’, we are pleased to announce the conclusion of yet another successful event, the second instalment of our talks ‘Global Perspectives on Future Security Trends’. Read the recap of the first event here and the official write-up here.

The official write-up of the second event is still to come.?

During our first event, experts from various transatlantic foresight institutions were struck by the similarities of their reports. Pervasive competition, enabled by technological advancements and intensified by climate change, was the overarching trend from the transatlantic perspective. It was noted in our first talk that the transatlantic perspective is only one amongst many, and that we needed to look beyond our usual circles and widen to our discussion to a global perspective. Thus, the second Strategic Foresight talks sought out to do just that, broaden our horizon.

Our speakers, coming from South Africa, Brazil and global organisations such as the UN, represented a more global audience that helped to enrich our understanding of ‘possible futures’?and in establishing a global baseline in foresight.

We are delighted to have had the following speakers at our event:

1. Dr. Jakkie Cilliers

Dr. Jakkie Cilliers is the founder and the former Executive Director of the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa. He currently serves as Chairman of the ISS Board of Trustees and Head of the African Futures and Innovation Programme in the Pretoria office of the Institute.

2. Prof. Alcides Costa Vaz

Prof. Alcides Costa Vaz is the Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Studies at the Institute of International Relations of the Universidade de Brasília and former President of the Brazilian Defense Studies Association.

3.?Sarah Grand-Clément

Sarah G. is a researcher at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research and the author of several strategic foresight studies in International Security.

Event Recap

HCSS Director of Research Dr. T. (Tim) Sweijs set the scene for the event with some introductory remarks.

Dr. Jakkie Cilliers , Chairman of the Board and Head of African Futures & Innovation at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa kicked off the event with the first keynote speech.

Our second keynote was by Prof. Alcides Costa Vaz, Professor International Relations at the University of Brasília.

Our third and final keynote was by Sarah Grand-Clément, researcher at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and the author of several strategic foresight studies in International Security. During her presentation, she shared insights from the UNIDIR International Security in 2045 Report.

After a brief coffee break, the event moved into a panel discussion with our three keynote speakers, moderated by HCSS Director of Research Dr. T. (Tim) Sweijs.

The panel conversation was then followed by a Q&A session from the audience.

Two guest papers were also written in anticipation of this event by two of our speakers.

The first paper was written by Prof. Alcides Costa Vaz, ‘A Latin American perspective on the key drivers of future international security trends.’ Read the full report here.

The second paper was written by Dr. Jakkie Cilliers, ‘What divides us? And the impact on democracy and stability.’ Read the full report here.

Organised by HCSS Strategic Analyst Pieter-Jan Vandoren , the event was part of the Strategic Monitoring and Foresight Program that HCSS is conducting in collaboration with the Clingendael Institute at the request of the Dutch Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense.

Just before HCSS hosted this event, HCSS Strategic Analyst Davis H. Ellison briefly spoke all three of our speakers. Interviews will be posted soon!