ACUNS

The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) is an international foundation that was established in 1995 under Swiss law to "promote the building and maintenance of peace, security and stability."  The GCSP was founded by the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sort, in cooperation with the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, as a Swiss contribution to the Partnership for Peace (PfP).

The GCSP is engaged in the following four areas of activities:

• training and international peace and security, with a special focus on the globalising security environment;
• research;
• conferences; and,
• dialogue.

The GCSP's core activity is the provision of expert training in comprehensive international peace and security policy for mid-career diplomats, military officers, and civil servants from foreign, defence, and other relevant ministries, as well as from international organisations.  Participants in GCSP courses come from countries of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue, the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, and beyond, including South and East Asia and Africa. In addition to its three principal courses (each lasting from three to nine months) offered in Geneva, the GCSP also offers tailor-made courses in Geneva, Brussels, New York, and other locations.  Alumni from GCSP courses remain engaged in the Centre's activities.

GCSP faculty and senior staff, both academics and practitioners, come from a wide range of countries, disciplines, and interests, covering a broad spectrum of the security-policy arena.  They write extensively in GCSP publications, internationally reputed peer-reviewed journals and other publications.  In addition, they contribute regularly to the policy and academic debates on key security issues.  Moreover, the GCSP convenes conferences, workshops, and discussion to promote dialogue on peace and security issues. Some of the latter activities aim to facilitate discreet dialogue in post-conflict situations.

As of 2010, the GCSP's activities are structured according to the six following programmes: International Security; Euro-Atlantic Security; Security and Law; New Issues in Security; Conflict and Peacebuilding; Civil-Military Relations.