Security & Defence Agenda

The Security & Defence Agenda (SDA) is Brussels' only dedicated security and defence think-tank. Its activities include debates, international conferences and a range of publications.^[1] It is located at 4 Rue de la Science, Brussels, with its sister think tank, Friends of Europe.

Overview

The Security & Defence Agenda (SDA) provides a neutral meeting point for defence and security specialists from NATO and the EU. The SDA has since developed into an important forum for the discussion of defence and security policies. With the rapidly evolving nature of the security environment, the SDA champions dynamic new ways of consulting global opinion on security issues, including the world's only mass-participation online security policy event, the Security Jam, and its ongoing Cyber-Security Initiative.^[2]

Former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates used the SDA platform to deliver a well-publicised criticism of declining European military capabilities shortly before his departure.^[3] Senior figures from the security and defence world regularly appear at the SDA, such as: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Cecilia Malmström, Neelie Kroes, Pauline Neville-Jones, Alexander Vershbow, General James L. Jones, Elmar Mammadyarov and many others.^[4]

Advisory Board

The SDA receives guidance from its Advisory Board, led by Jaap De Hoop Scheffer and Javier Solana.

Members include:^[5]

• Gen. Stéphane Abrial
• Claude-France Arnould
• Gen. Knud Bartels
• Gilles de Kerchove
• Giampaolo Di Paola
• Ambassador Hüseyin Diriöz
• Bates Gill
• Frederick Kempe
• Brig. Gen. Ilkka Laitinen
• Janusz Onyszkiewicz
• Ioan Mircea Pascu
• Mikhail Remizov
• Walter Stevens
• Leendert van Bochoven
• Geoffrey Van Orden
• Lt.Gen. Ton van Osch
• Alexander Vershbow
• Pierre Vimont
• Veronika Wand-Danielsson

The Director of the SDA is Giles Merritt, who is also Secretary-General of the SDA's sister think-tan Friends of Europe and Editor of the policy journal Europe's World.

References