Belgrade Security Conference “Authoritarianism as a Cause of War and a Duty to Resist”

BCSP was the founder and organizer of the Belgrade Security Forum (BSF) together with the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence and the European Movement in Serbia. Together with our partners, throughout eleven years of existence of the Forum, we initiated many good ideas and held excellent discussions. While we appreciate this partnership and years of cooperation, extraordinary times in which we are living have brought new challenges. The most complex questions require brave thinking, a more dynamic and honest dialogue and an improved platform to enable that.

This is why a new regional conference, Belgrade Security Conference, is scheduled for 27 and 28 October in Belgrade under the auspices of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) with the title Authoritarianism as a Cause of War and a Duty to Resist.

War in Europe, geopolitical competition, the rise of autocracy, the normalisation of the nuclear threat, relativisation of value-based conventions, fear of new pandemics, fake news, disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories, food shortage and lack of energy supplies is the reality of the world in which we live today. If this is our present, what will be our future? Do we have the potential to curb global challenges, and who will lead the change? We can ask these kinds of questions indefinitely, anxiously searching for a magic wand or at least a lifeboat. Pressed by the urgency of the moment we risk getting things wrong and going deeper into the uncertainty. That is why debates and dialogue, confrontation of thoughts, bursting the established bubbles are necessary.

What the world will be like after the reset of the global security architecture depends on finding ideas that new generations will inherit. Will Europe compromise the comfort of its soft power and will it take a geopolitical responsibility? Has the EU enlargement fatigue turned into sclerosis and will the Western Balkans become an integrated region of Europe or an erosive area of instability, with negative spill over effects elsewhere on our continent?

These are the questions we want to ask European and Balkan leaders, global think-tankers, academics, activists, diplomats, and current and former politicians at the first edition of the BelSec. Russian aggression on Ukraine, the future of the EU, the fight for democracy, energy dependency, the growth of organised crime, disinformation, malign influences and the future of regional cooperation in the Western Balkans, are some of the topics we will discuss while stimulating the opposition of arguments that would paint a picture of the new peaceful world. Furthermore, our academic event will continue gathering scolars with cutting-edge research and fresh ideas on most relevant issues. This year, we will be focusing on the nexus between sustainable development and security.

The participants of this year’s conference will be addressed by this year’s laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize – Uladzimir Vialichkin, representative of the Human Rights Centre Viasna from Belarus and Anastasia Garina, executive director of the Russian human rights organisation Memorial. The importance of brave individuals and civil society organizations in the fight against authoritarianism was also recognized by the Nobel Committee, which announced that this year’s laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize represent civil societies in their countries and demonstrate their importance for peace and democracy. The values that these organizations are fighting for are the values that the organizational team of the Belgrade Security Conference also stands for, and through discussions, we want to highlight their importance for the world we live in.

The complete agenda of the Conference with the list of confirmed panelists is available HERE.

Be part of the solution. We are looking forward to welcoming you in October.