Global and regional conflict and insecurities are on the rise at the end of the first decade of the 21st century

Ottawa – Global and regional conflict and insecurities are on the rise at the end of the first decade of the 21st century. That is the conclusion of a major workshop of leading international experts co-hosted by the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), a Congressionally-funded think-tank based in Washington, DC.

The workshop, which was held from December 13-14, 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland, was made possible through the generous sponsorship of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and financial support by the Government of Switzerland.

Peoples and states around the world are worried about growing levels of instability, especially in their own neighbourhoods. At the same time, surprisingly new forms of international cooperation among regional, global and non-state actors are emerging to address these multiple security challenges, sometimes with remarkably positive results. The results of the workshop and a two-year long study will be published next year in a major volume by the United States Institute of Peace Press.

Civil and regional spillover conflicts are on the rise reversing a 15 year declining trend in the frequency and lethality of violent conflict that began immediately after the end of the Cold War in 1989-90. New security threats and challenges are affecting the viability of states and the livelihood of peoples in key regions of the world. Among them are the threat of narco-terrorism and violence, especially in Central America, Mexico, and West Africa, and the threat of piracy in the Indian Ocean and the Malaysian-Indonesian Straits.

The growing global strength and status of the so-called BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) is viewed with apprehension by some of their neighbours. Great power rivalries are returning to the regional and world stage although growing levels of economic interdependence, especially at the regional level, may temper some of these emerging tensions.