Conference Reports

Meeting on Deconstructing Terror

An international meeting on Deconstructing Terror was held in Pune, India on 16-17 February, 2018. The meeting was co-hosted by Strategic Foresight Group and Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflicts (CRIC) at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University and attended by 20 international experts.
The meeting followed discussion on the subject at a session on different perspectives on terrorism at the Annual Conference of CRIC held in Oxford in September 2017. The meeting discussed conventional, as well as new ideas to understand terrorism and to deal with it.

Strategy Workshop on Blue Peace in the Middle East

A group of regional experts from Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Iran met in Zurich, Switzerland on 21-22 August, 2017 for a strategy workshop with a main objective of exploring the future of the Blue Peace Process and ideas for the transfer of management leadership to regional institutions. The workshop was co-hosted by Strategic Foresight Group and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in cooperation with the Human Security Division of Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Roundtable on the New Architecture for the Middle East

A group of opinion makers from Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, along with international experts, met at the Royal Scientific Society in Amman on February 22-23, 2017 to identify elements of a new architecture for the Middle East and to define institutional structures underpinning it. The meeting was co-convened by the Strategic Foresight Group and El Majlis El Hassan in cooperation with Royal Scientific Society and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). It was organized under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan.

Open Debate on Water, Peace and Security in the UNSC

On November 22, 2016, Strategic Foresight Group President Dr Sundeep Waslekar briefed the United Nations Security Council during an Open Debate on Water, Peace and Security that was being held for the first time.
Dr Waslekar was one of the four briefers along with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Chairman Danilo Turk of the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace and ICRC Vice President Christine Beerli.
In his note, he urged the Council to proclaim water as a “strategic asset of humanity”, protect water infrastructure in times of crisis and negotiate occasional ceasefires in conflict zones to restore and repair water systems.
Dr Waslekar also urged the Council members to mull creation of a Blue Fund to incentivise cooperation among neighbouring countries in developing large water-related infrastructure.

Global Challenges Conference, October 2016

In October 2016, Strategic Foresight Group organized a Roundtable to discuss global pertaining to the major scientific and technological changes, particularly in genomics, nano-technology, artificial intelligence, information technology, environmental sciences and space sciences and the consequent impacts on global economy and politics. as well as the major structural changes that can be expected in the coming decades in global architecture.

International Roundtable on Water Cooperation for Peace and Security

On October 24, 2016, a group of 30 leading practitioners and scholars in trans-boundary water relations met at the House of Lords, London, on 24 October 2016 for the exchange of insights. The meeting was convened by Strategic Foresight Group and the Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflicts at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University. The free flowing nature of conversation helped connect dots in the water diplomacy sphere. It provided answers to some questions while raising new ones.

Publications

India’s AI Gambit: Navigating the Global Race

Framework for Responsible Use of AI in the Nuclear Domain

New Existential Risks to Human Civilization

Latest Articles

Reflections on a dialogue on A World Without War

Saving Humanity from the Scourge of War

Looking Forward, Looking Back