The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) presents its 2022 Annual Report. For 28 years, the GCSP has been equipping policymakers and executives with the skills to develop forward-thinking and innovative solutions to deal with an ever-changing security landscape.

Read the message from our director, Thomas Greminger: 

As the security challenges the world faces have become ever more complex and intertwined, the GCSP has tried to widen its horizons and sharpen its vision. That vision is to be a leading platform in the international security field that enables international actors with diverse perspectives to jointly generate ideas, policy options, and solutions to complex problems through inclusive dialogue, executive education, and the exchange of ideas.

This vision has helped us to see through the fog, stay focused on our mandate and navigate turbulent times while widening our portfolio to adapt to the ever-evolving security challenges the world faces. 

This past year was marked by an ongoing full-scale war in the heart of Europe and its dramatic global ripple effects impacting almost all elements of our lives. The Russian invasion of Ukraine not only caused untold numbers of civilian and military casualties for both countries, but sparked skyrocketing inflation and profound global food and energy insecurity crises. 

It is critical that we simultaneously focus our efforts on bringing peace back to Europe and other parts of the world, and on creating a world where large-scale wars are considered to be inconceivable.
In 2022 we at the GCSP continued our work on responding to the dynamic security situation we found ourselves in while widening our portfolio. 

We also used this transformative year to pause, reflect and define our Medium-Term Strategy (2023-2027) in order to remain agile, relevant and anticipatory in all our work. Key objectives in this medium-term strategy are strengthening the GCSP’s resources, expertise and profiles to facilitate dialogue, and providing incisive analysis and advice. By focusing on these objectives we aim to enhance the Centre’s ability to provide strategic anticipation and risk analysis for policymakers and security leaders. The strategy aims to further enhance the GCSP’s capacity to act as a centre of excellence providing state-of-the-art executive education to prepare leaders to shape a changing world. We also seek to strengthen the GCSP community of practice through the Global Fellowship Initiative and our GCSP Alumni Community.

Allow me to detail further our efforts to navigate turbulent times and expand our portfolio. As official communication channels remained blocked for government officials in many countries, the GCSP continued to provide a safe space for dialogue, education to disseminate the skills and knowledge leaders need to manage crises, and sound policy advice on how to de-escalate tensions while managing international relations peacefully. 

In an age of mistrust, the GCSP provides rare opportunities for military-to-military contacts and for people from different backgrounds to learn together to deal with common challenges. It is well positioned and equipped to train leaders to reshape the international system and scan the horizon to anticipate, explain, and prepare for future risks and challenges.

We are pleased that our Executive Education offerings proved to be effective and resilient as the world emerged from a major pandemic. The pandemic caused many challenges for us all, and the GCSP turned them into opportunities to future-proof our approach to education. I am proud of my team for quickly adapting to this new normal by leveraging innovative technology and developing a flexible blended format involving a combination of residential, virtual and hybrid delivery methods. 

In light of the war in Ukraine and the changing European and global security landscape, we adapted our portfolio of offerings both thematically and geographically. True to our principle of inclusiveness, our course participants have been able to learn about and discuss the latest and most pressing issues involved in international security in a uniquely safe environment. This in turn contributed to a constructive dialogue between leaders from both like-minded and non-liked-minded nations, despite the worldwide polarisation that is increasingly becoming a central feature of international relations. In 2022 the GCSP also focused on the rapid development of its highly customised education offerings for partner organisations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. The Centre will continue to focus its efforts for the foreseeable future on increasing its presence and impact in these regions.The GCSP also expanded its Diplomatic Dialogue portfolio in response to the war in Ukraine and rising regional actors. Recognising the seismic shifts in the security landscape that were under way, we broadened our dialogue process offerings to facilitate mutual understanding and open what had become increasingly blocked communication channels between government officials. Our unique position in offering a safe space where both like-minded and non-like-minded people can meet and speak candidly to one another allowed us to convene a wide range of dialogues on challenging topics.