By Christine June
Public Affairs Office
George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (May 8, 2020) — The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies is hosting a forum during the 2020 Transatlantic Security Jam, a global online brainstorm event on international security challenges.

This year’s Transatlantic Security Jam focuses on “Securing the Post-COVID Future.” The forum will be held entirely online from May 12 to 14. Each day, the sessions will be from 3 p.m. (Central European Time) or 9 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time) to 5 p.m. (CET) or 11 a.m. (EST).

This virtual conference is hosted by the IBM Corporation “Jam” Platform and coordinated by the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes.

Other transatlantic security and defense organizations, and international think tanks involved include the German Marshall Fund, Friends of Europe, Center for a New American Security and the Atlantic Council of the U.S.

The Marshall Center’s forum is titled “Transatlantic Security, NATO-European Union Relations: Challenges and Collaboration.” Marshall Center’s forum discussions will concentrate on five questions.

            1. Hybrid Threats after COVID-19

            2. Capacity Building post COVID-19

            3. Capability Development post COVID-19 World

            4. Climate and Defense -- Sustainable Recovery in a post COVID-19 World

            5. Military Mobility post COVID-19

This event is by invitation only, and the Marshall Center is reaching out to its alumni to join its forum and share their perspectives with the global security community.

The link to information and registration for the event is on GlobalNET. (You must be logged in to view the page).  

Five other forums will be addressed during this three-day event.

            1. Competition in a COVID Environment: Dealing with disinformation, hybrid threats

            2. NATO Mission and Core Tasks in Action: Resilience, Readiness and Responsiveness

            3. EU Cooperation and Autonomy: The global role of the EU post-COVID-19

            4. Technology and Industrial Cooperation

            5. The Post-COVID Relationship with a Rising China

For more than 50 hours, hundreds of experts from all over the world, from politics and the military to civil society organizations and universities will address the current environment and the post COVID-19 future.

According to the press release on the PfPC website, the 2020 Transatlantic Security Jam will be like a regular conference with multiple forums, lots of speakers making written interventions, interactive polls and dynamic discussions. What is different from a normal conference is that the “Jam” platform will analyze thousands of posted interactions to continuously propose the most active and well-supported ideas back into the debates to spiral the discussions for a better outcome.

By the end of this event, the best ideas for going forward will be summarized in a comprehensive report for use by the global security community and distributed to leaders around the globe, from the PfPC press release.

 Find out more about how a “Jam” works by taking the virtual tour.