The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is an international research institute or think tank focusing on defence and security issues. Since 1997, its headquarters have been at Arundel House in London. It has offices on four continents, producing data and research on questions of defence, security and global affairs, publishing publications and online analysis, and convening major security summits. The Guardian newspaper has described the IISS as ‘one of the world’s leading security think tanks.’
Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga CYC is a Spanish physicist and PSOE politician. After serving in the Spanish government as Foreign Affairs Minister under Felipe González (1992–1995) and as the Secretary General of NATO (1995–1999), leading the alliance during Operation Allied Force, he was appointed the European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary General of the Council of the European Union and Secretary-General of the Western European Union and held these posts from October 1999 until December 2009.
Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999. He is the son of Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the previous and first emir. The country has been ruled by the Al Khalifa dynasty since 1783.
Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, is a British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and First Vice President of the European Commission in the Barroso Commission from 2009 to 2014.
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Union (EU). The position is currently held by Josep Borrell Fontelles. Former prime minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas is expected to succeed him in late 2024.
The Political and Security Committee is a permanent body within the European Union dealing with Common Foreign and Security Policy issues, including Common Security and Defence Policy.
Koen Vervaeke is a Belgian diplomat who has been serving as Managing Director for Africa at the European External Action Service (EEAS) since December 2015. He was previously the Director for Horn of Africa, East & Southern Africa, Indian Ocean, and the Senior EU Coordinator for the Great Lakes region. He also served in the past as Head of the European Union Delegation to the African Union in Addis Abeba, (Ethiopia).
The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service in charge of executing all international relations of the European Union. The EEAS is led by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP), who is also President of the Foreign Affairs Council and vice-president of the European Commission, and carries out the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), including the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
Samuel Žbogar is a Slovenian diplomat and politician who is the EU Special Representative in North Macedonia. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia from 2008 to 2012. He is currently acting Minister for Development Cooperation.
The EU Intelligence and Situation Centre is a "civilian intelligence function" of the European Union (EU). Structurally, it is a directorate of the External Action Service (EEAS) and reports directly to the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union, among other things, expressly states that "national security remains the sole responsibility of each Member State". EU INTCEN's analytical products are based on intelligence from the EU Member States' intelligence and security services.
EUFOR Concordia was a European Union (EU) peacekeeping mission in the Republic of Macedonia, which started on 31 March 2003. The EU took over from NATO's operation Allied Harmony and deployed around 300 troops to provide security to EU and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors overseeing the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, a peace settlement resolving the conflict between the government and country's ethnic Albanian community. It thus became the first ever military operation of the EU. While keeping EU's control over the entire chain of command the mission closely cooperated with NATO through transparency and regular consultations and its headquarters were at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons. France suggested fully autonomous EU operation but United Kingdom and Germany feared it will be perceived as antagonistic to NATO.
Arnaud Danjean is a French politician and former civil servant who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2024. A member of The Republicans (LR), he was also elected a member of the Regional Council of Burgundy in 2010. He was elected to the newly-created Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in 2015, holding a seat until his resignation in 2017.
Poul Skytte Christoffersen is a Danish diplomat. He holds a degree in Economics. Christoffersen prepared the negotiations on EU enlargement to take in 10 central and eastern European countries in 2004, so that they could be concluded at the Copenhagen summit in December 2002. He was the Danish Ambassador to the European Union from 1995 -2003. He then was appointed ambassador to Italy. In 2009 he again became ambassador to the EU, a role which he gave up when becoming Special advisor to Baroness Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. He is to help Ashton set up the European External Action Service (EEAS).
The international reactions to the 2011 Bahraini uprising include responses by supranational organisations, non-governmental organisations, media organisations, and both the governments and civil populaces, like of fellow sovereign states to the protests and uprising in Bahrain during the Arab Spring. The small island nation's territorial position in the Persian Gulf not only makes it a key contending regional power but also determines its geostrategic position as a buffer between the Arab World and Iran. Hence, the geostrategic implications aid in explaining international responses to the uprising in Bahrain. Accordingly, as a proxy state between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Bahrain's domestic politics is both wittingly and unavoidably shaped by regional forces and variables that determine the country's response to internal and external pressures.
Peter Ingemann Moesgaard Sørensen is a Danish diplomat, EU Ambassador to the United Nations Office and other International Organisations in Geneva. He previously served as European Union Special Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Andreas Reinicke is a German diplomat and a former Ambassador to Tunisia. He has been the European Union Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process. Alberto Oggero, an Italian diplomat, served as his deputy until 31 December 2013. Reinicke was appointed by the Council of the European Union on 23 January 2012, and his mandate was repealed on 1 January 2014, following proposals to the Political and Security Committee (PSC) by High Representative of EU for Common Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton.
The Kortenberg building is an office building of the European Union (EU) in Brussels, Belgium. It houses mostly bodies related to the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
Carl Hartzell is a Swedish diplomat, currently serving as Deputy Director-General and Head of Department for Multilateral Governance and Humanitarian Policy at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm. After an early career in his home country in the 1990s, Hartzell subsequently held a number of positions in the European Union diplomatic service and, also, served as Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia from 2018 to 2022.
Charles Fries is a senior civil servant and French diplomat. He is the brother of Fabrice Fries, Chief Executive Officer of the news agency Agence France Presse.
