Threat Perception & International Cooperation

With renewed cooperation and a return to great power competition, the end of the decades-long occupation of Afghanistan, and the democratization and rapid development of technology, the time is ripe to turn our eyes to new domains and emerging threats to national security. Events on 9/11 set the world’s security agenda for the following two decades. As we open a new era, what are the challenges that will define the next 20 years and how can international partnerships confront them?

The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and the National Security Policy Center at the Frank S. Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy will host a series of public conversations examining the future of security cooperation in an era of transformational technological change on October 5^th and 6^th, 2021.

The purpose of these discussions is to examine and reconsider today’s priorities to tackle tomorrow’s security challenges. The event will include meetings among security experts including former government officials, non-governmental experts, and scholars.

The conversations will be wide ranging, but will be organized around three major themes in the rapidly evolving security environment:

• New domains:
  • Today’s conflicts take place among a more diverse range of domains than ever—domains including space, which is becoming more “congested, contested, and competitive” even as economic and military reliance on it grows. With the emergence of new actors, technologies, and strategies, how do we cooperate to maintain stability and utility in such environments?
• New technology:
  • New and more accessible technologies are upending the traditional balance of conflicts, opening the playing field to nontraditional actors and strategies. For example, state and non-state actors alike are increasingly using cyber threats against economic and military targets to advance grey zone operations. How should we approach escalation when emerging technologies give new actors the ability to blur the lines between competition and conflict?
• Renewed cooperation:
  • Changes to the security environment inevitably stress longstanding relationships and give rise to new ones. What are the prospects for global security cooperation in the context of rapid technological advancement and evolving threats? How do these tools and threats impact deterrence? How can states work together to best use all of the capabilities at our disposal to deter adversaries and assure allies?

Threat Perception & International Cooperation, hosted by the National Security Policy Center and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, will provide a unique forum—convening a range of experts and engaging with the university and national security communities in a series of events—to tackle these issues through informed, candid, and provocative discussions.

Agenda Here

Threat Perception and International Cooperation – NSPC KAS Conference Paper 2021