Danish Atlantic Youth Seminar explores security in the Caucasus
On 6 to 12 July 2009, some 36 students from 21 countries participated in a Danish Atlantic Youth Seminar in Aalborg, Denmark entitled, “Diplomacy and Crisis Management in the Backyard of Europe”. The Seminar focused on security concerns in the South Caucasus region.
Seminar participants, who ranged from 19 to 32 years of age, represented such countries as Georgia, Belarus, Russia, Kosovo, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Canada, the United States and Denmark. In addition to debating issues affecting the regional security environment, students also held a two-day mock crisis that simulated a geopolitical emergency in the Caucasus region.
Seminar speakers included high-level officials from the Danish defence community, including His Excellency Per Carlsen, the Danish Ambassador to Russia; William Boe, Deputy Head of the Department for European Neighbourship and Russia at the Danish Foreign Ministry; Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics; James Sherr, Head of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House; and Thierry Legendre, Policy Advisor in the Private Office of the NATO Secretary General.
Begun in 1986, the Danish Atlantic Youth Seminar, or DAYS, series has seen 1300 participants from 24 countries join workshops, lectures and simulations on international security held in Europe, North America and Russia. The event was organised by the Danish Atlantic Treaty Association, the Danish Foreign Ministry, the Danish Ministry of Defence and NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division.