Middle East & North Africa

The Reliability of Global Undersea Communications Cable Infrastructure

This study submits twelve major recommendations to the private sector, governments and other stakeholders—especially the financial sector—for the purpose of improving the reliability, robustness, resilience and security of the world’s undersea communications cable infrastructure.

In practical terms, these twelve recommendations are offered as challenges to individuals. These will be the ones who will need to make the difference when a difference is called for. The senior leaders and subject matter experts of equipment suppliers, network operators and service providers; the leaders and participants of the industry’s fora; researchers; consultants in small firms; government policy makers and staff employees; IT specialists in financial firms; and many others—all are strongly urged to include this report in their dialogue and to do so speedily, as the improvement opportunities described have important benefits to many throughout the world—and the consequences, many downsides.

It is encouraging that at the time of this report dispatch, a number of private sector interests have indicated their willingness to take the next steps suggested for several recommendations. Each of the recommendations should be considered and acted upon with urgency proportional to the vital role that international communications networks and services will play in the future. The critical priority for implementation is clear. Without reliable international communications networks and services, public welfare is endangered, economic stability is at risk, other critical sectors are exposed, and nation-state security is threatened. The implementation of this report’s recommendations will significantly reduce these and other risks. Each of the twelve recommendations is both challenging and achievable. The intent of the ROGUCCI process from the beginning has been to improve the world’s communications. Successful implementation of each recommendation will significantly improve the reliability and robustness of communications services for the citizens around the world. However, each will require skill, resolve and genuine partnership among government entities, stakeholders and the private sector.

This study strongly urges the private sector, governments and other stakeholders to chart and embark on a new course of policy and practice that forcefully advocates highly available, highly reliable, highly robust, highly resilient and highly secure international communications infrastructure.

Click here to download the complete publication from the IEEE web site

Afghanistan Reconnected: Unlocking Investment Potential in the Region

Overview

The EastWest Institute (EWI) will convene “Afghanistan Reconnected,” an Abu Dhabi Process Meeting on Afghanistan’s investment potentials, in New Delhi at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (FICCI) Federation House, on November 19-20, 2013. The conference will address key challenges and opportunities for investment in Afghanistan after the 2014 withdrawal of international forces. High-level representatives, including Afghanistan’s Finance Minister Dr. Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal and India’s former Foreign Minister Kanwal Sibal, will attend. Key participants from India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, as well as from U.A.E., Turkey, the United States, the EU, Central Asia, Iran and China will also be in attendance.

“This will be an opportunity for top people in the region and beyond to focus on the tremendous task Afghanistan has before it,” says Ambassador Beate Maeder-Metcalf, EWI’s Vice President who leads the Regional Security program. “The good news is that the opportunities may be as big as the challenges.”

FICCI has played a key role in the Abu Dhabi Process economic cooperation initiative and offered to host EWI’s regional investment conference in November. The first meeting of the series, held in April 2013 in Istanbul, centered on infrastructure issues. The second meeting, held in September in Islamabad, focused on regional energy trade and transit.

Questions to be covered in this meeting include: Can investment in Afghanistan’s untapped natural resources and in mining provide the much needed economic stability after the withdrawal of international forces in 2014? Could Afghanistan’s role as the transit route for trade and energy between Southwest Asia and the Far East, Central Asia and the continent’s  booming Southern region improve  economic prospects with win-win potentials for the whole region?

The November 19-20 conference on investment will be again conducted under the Chatham House Rule with the participation of selected media. TV footage is possible at the opening session. Media interactions with participants are welcome. EWI will be happy to assist you in contacting participants before or during the event.

Contact: Mohammad Shinwari, Program Associate, Regional Security at Mohammad.naeem_shinwari@ewi.info; Office: +32 (0) 27434622, Mobile: +32 (0) 474213861.

Preventing Nuclear Terrorism

Overview

Nuclear terrorism remains a real and urgent threat. Despite a rather impressive array of mechanisms established to combat this threat, several serious problems persist, requiring relentless attention and actions by the United States, Russia and other responsible nations. These include the ongoing nuclear security vulnerabilities in a number of countries and the continued incidents of illicit trafficking in nuclear materials, radioactive sources and the various components.

The EastWest Institute will host "Preventing Nuclear Terrorism: Recommendations Based on a U.S.-Russian Joint Threat Assessment," a seminar with William Tobey of Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Pavel Zolotarev of the Institute for U.S. and Canada Studies. The presentation will center on a groundbreaking new report, produced jointly by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies (ISKRAN), that outlines concrete steps for the United States and Russia to take in leading international efforts to combat the threat of nuclear terrorism.

 

To attend, please RSVP to usprogram@ewi.info.

For more information, please contact Kevin Ching at kching@ewi.info.

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