SENIOR PARTNERSHIP CONFERENCE

ON

“THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF PfP AND FUTURE OF NATO PARTNERSHIPS”

organized by NISA in cooperation with NATO and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan

BAKU, 11-12 APRIL, 2014

CONCEPT PAPER

Cooperative security, as one of the NATO’s core objectives, takes its origins with the inauguration of the Partnership for Peace Program (PfP) in January 1994. This genuine Program, proceeding from “a joint conviction that stability and security in the Euro-Atlantic area can be achieved only through cooperation and common action” established a new cooperation mechanism that replaced previous historical rivalry and engaged former adversaries in joint partnership endeavors.

As 2014 marks the 20th anniversary of PfP, we owe to pay tribute to those wise statesmen who took timely and challenging decisions to launch and join this Program. For the 20 years NATO and PfP partners have been benefiting by working together to address various security challenges within and beyond the Euro-Atlantic area. A vivid illustration of such a beneficial cooperation is Azerbaijan-NATO partnership. As one of the first PfP signatories and NATO’s reliable partner Azerbaijan’s cooperation with NATO extends to many areas including, inter alia, fight against terrorism, regional security, contribution to international security, in particular Azerbaijan’s support to NATO/ISAF nations in bringing stability to Afghanistan and so forth.

As security environment has significantly changed over the last two decades, it is also a right time to look beyond 2014 to ensure continuity of the PfP success. While the core of PfP has enduring relevance, its mechanisms, tools and instruments may need upgrading to keep the PfP successful.

Against this background, the NATO International School of Azerbaijan (NISA) in cooperation with NATO and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan will organize a conference to appraise PfP achievements and look forward to the role of PfP in the re-emerging Euro-Atlantic security architecture and relations with individual partners. It will basically try to find answers to questions like: What did Partners and Allies gain though PfP? How PfP could better operate in evolving security environment and what should be done for that? Which issues should be furthered in the NATO partnership agenda to better serve Euro-Atlantic security? How can partnership with individual countries be strengthened to tackle common challenges? How will NATO advance partnerships and sustain interoperability, beyond-2014?

The advancement of partnerships is amongst key priorities for the upcoming NATO Summit in Wales on 4-5 September 2014.  This Conference, being the flagship event on partnerships, intends to stimulate comprehensive discussions on and around these questions with a view to contribute to the Summit deliberations on partnerships.

The Conference is intended to bring together NATO IS, NATO Military Authorities, member and partner countries civilian and military officials, academicians and researchers to discuss NATO partnership related issues.

To download the preliminary but detailed program, please click here Senior Conference_tentative programme

To download the administrative arrangements, please click here Senior Conference_admin remarks

To download the hotel reservation form, please click here Senior Conference_hotel reservation form