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What are frozen conflicts? Did you know that over 3 million people living in Eurasia today are affected by frozen conflicts? Their lives have been frozen in these conditions of political uncertainty and insecurity because while these armed conflicts have been suspended, no peace treaties have been agreed upon to permanently end them. In this episode, we are honoured to have Ambassador Thomas Greminger, Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and former Secretary General of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) from 2017 to 2020, to shed light on how to harness the potential of trade for peace in frozen conflicts. With a lifelong career in peace and security, Ambassador Greminger shares with us his views on frozen conflicts in Eurasia and how trade can be used as a confidence-building measure (CBM) in peacebuilding. Guest: Ambassador Thomas Greminger, Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and former Secretary General of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Host: Mr. Axel M. Addy, Former Minister of Commerce and Industry and Chief Negotiator of Liberia's accession to the WTO.

"Global health security: COVID-19 and beyond" is the final episode in this podcast series where Dr Paul Vallet interviews Dr Johanna Ralston, CEO; World Obesity Foundation. Welcome to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy weekly podcast. I'm your host, Dr Paul Vallet, Associate Fellow in the Global Fellowship Initiative. For the past weeks this spring, I've been talking with subject matter experts to discuss issues of peace, security and international cooperation. Thanks for tuning in. In recent days, since this spring and the beginning of our weekly podcast, the rollout of vaccinations, however unequal in different parts of the world, has given us hope about the COVID 19 pandemic. It is also the time to reckon with other major public health questions that were side-lined by our preoccupations with the pandemic. As some of these concerns our everyday lives and can easily affect each of us and to remind us there are other ways to take care of ourselves, my guest today is Johanna Ralston, Johanna Ralston, who is currently the CEO of the World Obesity Foundation since 2017, has over 25 years’ experience in global health and development. She is a global leader in advocating for non-communicable diseases and a dual Swedish and US citizen. After training at the Harvard Business School and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her career took her to the American Cancer Society, they were set up global programs on cancer and tobacco control projects in more than 30 countries. she proceeded on to the World Heart Foundation based in Geneva, which was appointed CEO in 2011. Working closely with the World Health Organization and other UN agencies tackling cardiovascular diseases. She was instrumental in implementing the Non-Communicable Diseases Declaration adopted that year and worked to place strong targets on cardiovascular disease mortality reduction in the WHO Global Action Plan, and the Sustainable Development Goals. She has worked and published with many institutions devoted to medicine and public health. And at least she's been a member of the GCSP Global Fellowship Initiative, for a few years now. So, it's nice to welcome you, Johanna, to the podcast. And thank you for speaking with us today.

"Peacebuilding through arts and culture" is episode 18 in the 2021 GCSP Podcast Series where Dr Paul Vallet interviews Dr Rama Mani Convenor, Enacting Global Transformation, Centre for International Studies, University of Oxford; Founder, Theatre of Transformation Academy; Co-Founder, Home for Humanity; Founding Councilor, World Future Council.

"Latin America and transnational organised crime" is episode 17 in the 2021 GCSP Podcast Series where Dr Paul Vallet interviews Professor Realuyo is Professor of Practice at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies at the National Defense University in the United States Dr Paul Vallet: Welcome to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy weekly podcast. I'm your host, Dr Paul Vallet, Associate Fellow with the Global Fellowship Initiative. For the next few weeks, I'm talking with subject matter experts to discuss issues of peace, security and international cooperation. Thank you, listeners for tuning in. As you may have heard, a successful law enforcement operation led worldwide by the US, European, Australian and New Zealand police forces has just concluded against international organised crime and drug trafficking networks, reminding us that the global importance of allied forces in fighting transnational crime. So, to discuss this I'm joined today by one of our guest speakers at this year's recently concluded Leadership in International Security Course, Professor Celina Realuyo. Professor Realuyo is Professor of Practice at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies at the National Defense University in the United States, where she focuses on US national security, illicit networks, transnational organised crime, counterterrorism, and threat finance issues in the Americas. She's a former US diplomat, also an international banker with Goldman Sachs, US counterterrorism official, and Professor of International Security Affairs at the National Defense Georgetown, George Washington, and Joint Special Operations Universities. Professor Realuyo has over two decades of experience in international public, private and academic sectors. She's a regular commentator in the international media, including CNN en Espanol, Deutsche Welle, Foreign Policy, Reuters and Univision and has testified before the US Congress on national security, terrorism and crime issues. Professor Realuyo is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, International Institute for Strategic Studies and women in international security. She has travelled to over 70 countries, she speaks English, French, Spanish, and is convergent in Italian, German, Filipino and Arabic. So, with all that combined knowledge, I think you will give us some fabulous insight into transnational crime. So welcome to the podcast, professor. And thank you for joining us today.

Listen to this special edition podcast with multiple experts providing analyses on the Biden-Putin Summt in Geneva on 16 June 2021. This is episode 16 in the 2021 GCSP Podcast Series. Dr Paul Vallet: Welcome to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy weekly podcast. I'm your host, Dr Paul Vallet, Associate Fellow in the Global Fellowship Initiative. As you all know, on the 16th of June 2021, Geneva hosted the first in person meeting of President of the United States Joe Biden, and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. This was the first in person meeting of the two leaders since Biden's election to the presidency of the US. It was a Summit which had generated a lot of interest a lot of coverage, over 3,000 journalists converged on Geneva for what was billed as an important and historical landmark meeting that was in line with previous US-Soviet meetings in Geneva, in 1955, and 1985. Much was expected and much was on the agenda for this meeting for which the Swiss government played host. During the day, the GCSP joined the array of commentators for this event, by constituting a specially dedicated newsroom in which we coordinated a lot of the views of our different experts and relayed also interviews given to the local and international press. We've also produced a series of video commentaries virtually live to offer on-the-moment comment, especially following the two press conferences that the leaders held separately in the evening of June 16, before they returned to their respective countries. So, today's podcast is a little bit because we've decided to rebroadcast some of these views to give you of course, what our experts see as the important takeaways from the Summit.

"GCSP & Swiss Security Policy: Building Expertise, Confidence and Communities" is episode 15 in the 2021 GCSP Podcast Series. Col Christian Bühlmann interviews Ambassador Teddy Winkler. To mark the 35th anniversary of the GCSPs flagship course – founded as SIPOLEX, later the International Training Course in Security Policy (ITC), and now the Leadership in International Security Course (LISC) - we spoke with Ambassador Theodore Winkler, the GCSP’s first Director, whose role was crucial in founding the course. Ambassador Winkler shared his insights on the origins of the course, in the wake of the 1985 Geneva Summit, its role in contributing to Swiss Foreign policy, as well as expectations for the upcoming summit between Presidents Biden and Putin.

International Geneva and the Biden-Putin Summit is episode 14 in this GCSP podcast series. Dr Paul Vallet interviews Ms Alexandra Matas, Head of Effective Governance at the GCSP. Welcome to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy weekly podcast. I'm your host, Dr Paul Vallet, Associate Fellow in the Global Fellowship Initiative. For the next few weeks, I'm talking with subject matter experts to discuss issues of peace, security and international cooperation. Thanks for tuning in. Early last week, it was confirmed that the presidents of the United States and of the Russian Federation Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will hold their first summit meeting since Biden's inauguration here in Geneva on June 16. This has been hailed in Switzerland as a new occasion for Geneva to play an important role in US-Russian relations, as it often has in the past. The current state of tension between the two powers and the many issues of global scale, which they need to discuss, especially on arms control and counter proliferation, also mean that the Geneva Summit will be closely watched by international observers. It is also worth recalling that the 1985 Summit held also in Geneva between Mikael Gorbachev for the USSR and Ronald Reagan for the United States, served as another epiphany for Swiss diplomacy, and was the origins of the launch of the International Training Course around which the GCSP itself would be formed a decade later. Our podcast will discuss this in a forthcoming edition. To discuss the importance of this forthcoming summit. I'm joined today by Ms Alexandra Matas, the Head of the Effective Governance cluster at the GCSP. Alexandra Matas, who is originally Russian, trained in both Public Relations and International Affairs at the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sports and Tourism and at the Geneva Graduawte Institute of International and Development Studies, and she joined the GCSP staff full time in 2011. She has coordinated the activities of the programmes on Security and Law and WMD and disarmament respectively. She's been a short course coordinator, and more recently, the course director in Effective Governance in either English or French language courses for state officials from different countries. She also designs dialogue events in Geneva and internationally on the topic of European Security, OSCE conflict prevention mechanisms, and post war reconstruction in Syria. Her research interests include the European security architecture, Russia and the post-Soviet states. She joins us in the midst of a busy agenda this week. So we're very fortunate to have her as a guest. Welcome to the podcast, Alexandra.

"Governance and international influence of Africa" is episode 13 in this GCSP podcast series. Dr Paul Vallet interviews Dr Delidji Eric Degila Senior Researcher, Global Migration Centre; Visiting Lecturer, International Relations/Political Science; Research Associate, Centre on Conflict, Development And Peacebuilding Dr Paul Vallet: Welcome to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy weekly podcast. I'm your host, Dr Paul Vallet, Associate Fellow in the GCSP Global Fellowship Initiative. For the next few weeks, I'm talking with subject matter experts on issues of peace, security, and international cooperation. Thanks for tuning in. For observers of international relations and development, Africa is never out of the news. The recent past has been rich with more developments from several presidential elections to the offensive of jihadist fighters reaching Mozambique, Ethiopia's dispute with neighbouring countries or on the Nile basin water management, are among many issues affecting human security. I'm joined today by Dr Delidji Eric Degila who has been one of the experts on Africa addressing the Leadership and International Security Course this year at the GCSP. Dr Degila is with the Geneva Graduate Institute of International Relations and Development, where he's a visiting lecturer in the Department of International Relations and Political Science, a senior researcher with the Global Migration Center, and a research associate with the Center on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding. He focuses his work on state building, on armed conflicts, religion and politics, migration, foreign policies and international organisations and on global health and development. His academic career spans both Africa as an associate professor at the École Nationale d'Administration et de Magistrature du Benin, but also here in Geneva, also in France, in Morocco, in Mexico, and also two distinguished universities in Japan, Waseda and Sophia. He also advised several international organisations including the African Union. Welcome to the podcast Dr Degila and thank you for joining us today.

"Weapons negotiations in the midst of global conflict" is episode 12 in this GCSP Podcast Series. Dr Paul Vallet interviews Mr Marc Finaud, Head of Arms Proliferation at the GCSP and former French diplomat. Dr Paul Vallet: Welcome to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy weekly podcast. I'm your host, Dr Paul Vallet, Associate Fellow with the GCSP’s Global Fellowship Initiative. For the next few weeks, I'm talking with subject- matter experts to explain issues of peace, security, and international cooperation. Thanks for tuning in. Current tensions and flashpoints across the globe remind us not only that escalations into armed confrontations are possible, they also feed the technological development of weapons. And the recent years have also shown that negotiations and efforts at arms control can stall or even suffer setbacks, yet the crises are also the reason that they need to be kept going or to resume. To discuss the situation, I'm joined this week by Marc Finaud. Marc Finaud is the Head of Arms Proliferation activities on the staff of the GCSP. He is a former French diplomat, who was seconded to the GCSP from 2004 to 2013. Mr Marc Finaud joined the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs back in 1977. And along with postings in Leningrad, as was then, Warsaw, Tel Aviv and Sydney, much of his career was connected to the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and also the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, as well as to the French delegation to the United Nations. As well as a diplomat and practitioner Marc Finaud was a lecturer on arms control and disarmament for a postgraduate course at Marne-la-Vallée University. And along with frequent media appearances, he is a very prolific author of numerous articles chapters of books on arms control and disarmament, as well as on the Middle East and International Humanitarian Law. In addition, from August 2013 to May 2015, Marc Finaud was a senior resident fellow at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). Throughout this year, Marc Finaud is leading the July and November courses on Building Arms control capacities in the Middle East and North Africa region, and two in April and December on building capacities for effective implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty. So, you see, we have here a very knowledgeable person on the issues of arms control. So, thank you very much for taking time to join us. And welcome to the podcast Marc.

"A Yazidi woman's survival story" is episode 11 in the new GCSP Podcast Series. Dr Paul Vallet interviews Ms Adiba Qasim, Yazidi genocide survivor, asylum seeker and Young Leader in Foreign and Security Policy at the GCSP. Dr Paul Vallet: Welcome to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy weekly podcast. I'm your host, Dr Paul Vallet, Associate Fellow in the GCSP Global Fellowship Initiative. For the next few weeks, I'm talking with subject matter experts to explain issues of peace, security and international cooperation. Thank you, listeners, for tuning in. A few weeks from now, we'll be seeing an anniversary of an event that stunned the Middle East and the wider world, when jihadist fighters of ISIS overran Mosul and much of northern Iraq upending the lives of millions among which the Yazidi people living around Mount Sinjar this event began the odyssey of the guest. I'm very pleased to welcome on this week's podcast Ms Adiba Qasim. Adiba Qasim is one of the Global Fellowship Initiative’s “Young Leaders in Foreign and Security Policy”. Born into a Yazidi family of the Sinjar district in northern Iraq, she was about to begin her university studies in Mosul in 2014 when ISIS captured the area, forcing her to flee alongside members of her family. Undaunted by her displacement, she then became a freelance journalist as well as assistant to foreign media covering the Kurdish, Iraq government and coalition forces counter-offensive that resulted in the retrieval of Mosul in 2016 and 2017. She also worked with the Yazidi survivors who were held in captivity by Islamic state, as well as forcefully recruited child soldiers of ISIS. She is an asylum seeker in Switzerland she has been sponsored and arrived at the GCSP in the autumn of 2018. She has since enrolled at the University of Geneva and continues to testify on behalf of her community. She has been profiled by both Swiss television and print media, most recently the Tribune de Genève. Adiba Qasim’s story and accomplishments have mightily impressed us all at the GCSP. And it is the further this that I'm very pleased to speak with you this week. So welcome again, Adiba, welcome to the podcast.

European approaches to internatiolnal security and defence is episode 10 in the new GCSP Podcast Series. Dr Paul Vallet interviews Colonel Markus Schneider of Germany and Senior Defence Advisor to the GCSP, Dr Paul Vallet: Welcome to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy weekly podcast. I'm your host, Dr Paul Vallet, Associate Fellow with the GCSP Global Fellowship Initiative. For the next few weeks, I'm talking with subject matter experts to explain issues of peace, security, and international cooperation. Thanks for tuning in. This coming week, May 9 is marked as Europe Day, 71st anniversary of the presentation by French Foreign Minister and “Father of Europe”, Robert Schuman of the draft Schuman Plan, which sealed post-war European reconciliation, reconstruction, and integration. In 76 years since the end of the Second World War, Europe has evolved to become a more peaceful and secure region and aspires also to provide more security for itself and its partners. To discuss this, I'm pleased to be joined today by Colonel Markus Schneider. Colonel Schneider is currently the Senior Defence Advisor to the GCSP, where he was seconded by the German Armed Forces the Bundeswehr in June 2020. Colonel Schneider is a graduate of the German Armed Forces, Command and Staff College in Hamburg, and comes to us after completing his latest command of the Logistics Department of the Rapid Forces Division in Stadenhoff. He's exercised an impressive number of command positions in operations abroad as well, in Kosovo, in Iraq, in representation at NATO, the EU and also in Israel, where he attended the National Staff College. And of course, as an instructor at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Hamburg, the Bundeswehr University in Munich, and , I believe all of this has been quite a fitting preparation for you for your tasks now at the GCSP. So, it's a real pleasure to have you for your insights here today. Welcome to the podcast.

"We each at a credit card amount of microplastics every week" is episode 9 in the new GCSP Podcast Series. Dr Paul Vallet interviews Mr Alexander Verbeeek, climate and environment expert and Associate Fellow with the GCSP's Global Fellowship Initiative Dr Paul Vallet: Welcome to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy weekly podcast. I'm your host, Dr Paul Vallet, Associate Fellow with the GCSP Global Fellowship Initiative. For the next few weeks, I'm talking with subject matter experts explain issues of peace, security, and international cooperation. Thanks for tuning in. This past week, we marked Earth Day and the US President Joe Biden convened the virtual summit of 40 leaders to underscore the renewed participation of the United States in international environmental and climate change negotiations. The environment is a global cause that historically has been marked both by raising awareness and concrete action. To discuss this, I'm joined today by Mr. Alexander Verbeek. As well as being an Associate Fellow in the GCSP Global Fellowship Initiative. He led the virtual journey in Addressing Challenges in Global Health Security earlier this month. Alexander for bake is a Dutch environmentalist, writer, public speaker, diplomat, and former strategic policy advisor at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1992 to 2016. Over the past 30 years, he has worked on international security, humanitarian and geopolitical risk issues and the linkage to the years accelerating environmental crisis. Currently, Alexander is writer-editor of the planet, a newsletter about threats to our environment, as well as the beauty of nature. He is Policy Director of the Environment and Development Resource Center in Brussels, and also an independent advisor on climate security, water, food, energy and resources for governments, businesses, think tanks and civil society agencies. Alexander founded the Institute for Planetary Security and developed the Planetary Security Initiative, leading the team that prepared the first planetary security conference in the Hague’s Peace Palace in November of 2015. He is a world Fellow at Yale University and has been a fellow and associate of the Stockholm Environment Institute, the Stockholm International water Institute, a visiting fellow at Uppsala University, and on the board of advisors of several international environmental initiatives with an online following on all social media of more than 400,000. We're fortunate to have him with us despite his busy schedule. Welcome to the podcast. Alexander. Mr Alexander Verbeek: Thank you. Dr Paul Vallet: My first question to you relating to indeed this activity, as a great communicator for all things, environmental, I was going to ask you, if I could, you know, use quotation marks around the term influencing and we talked about this before, but I wanted to ask you whether influencing represents for you a new form of international advocacy for the environment. Mr Alexander Verbeek: I don't think it's new. I think environmentalism has always been about influencing. So, you should start with the first environmentalist, but John Muir is the first name that that comes up because… I wrote about it a couple of days ago. I mean, if you look at John Muir, we talked them about, you know, late 19th century, activism to preserve the environment. So, you know, he couldn't send out tweets, but he wrote books and poems, and he was writing to the people in Washington to preserve nature. And he actually, well it was actually Teddy Roosevelt's idea. He contacted him to actually go out there in nature together, or think about, let's say, Rachel Carson with Silent Spring, I mean, that was still the days of, you know, book writing for influencing and activism. So, I think the causes may that we fight for may have changed in the methodology, but the basic principle of that you have to influence I think that's still there.