The National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA) will organize, on the 4-5 of October 2019, the fourth edition of the Bucharest Security Conference, the largest international conference in Romania that addresses the most recent security developments and evolving threats on the Euro-Atlantic frontier and NATO’s decisions to respond to them. On the one hand, the conference starts from the premise that the security environment of the region evolves in the global context and requires cooperative approaches. Evolutions with an international impact such as Russia’s intentions and actions on the Euro Atlantic frontier in the East, NATO’s Forward Presence, Brexit and some new developments in the EU, including the recent Treaty of Aachen, prove that the road is open for evolutions that may change some critical characteristics of the security situation in Eastern and Central Europe. On the other hand, Russia’s subversive actions and mobilization of troops aggravates the security situation at the Black Sea Region. The frozen conflicts in Transnistria, Ukraine, Georgia are concerning not only the members from the Eastern Flank, but the entire Alliance. In this context, NATO implemented the Enhanced Forward Presence and the Tailored Forward Presence on the Eastern Flank, increased the number of exercises and welcomes regional formats of cooperation such as Bucharest 9 Format, which held its last Summit in February 2019. The central purpose of the conference is to support NATO’s efforts to project stability through NATO’s partnerships by dialogue and analysis of the security evolutions meant to increase transparency and to reinforce NATO’s posture, gathering high officials from NATO member states and partner states. The conference also promotes Trans-Atlantic security cooperation in respect with an integrated approach of new security challenges, gathering annually security experts from USA and Europe and debating emerging challenges, as the panel description will show below.
Moreover, we deal with a paradigm shift in the military field, generated by the evolution of conflict typologies in the contemporary period. On one side there is the hybrid war which requires quick and adapted response measures/means, though on the other side there is the need of adaptation, from interventions specialized on hostile environment (Afghanistan case), to classic operations (Ukraine case). What is more, the dangerous, unpredictable, and fluid security environment of the Alliance is marked by significant evolutions in the cybernetic field, making the security concerns and evolutions of the cyberspace one of the focal points of the conference.