Page 427 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

Bringing the Concept to Life

in office in 1996. The Swiss are very involved in the Balkans, as members of the
OSCE missions there, and in Georgia too, where the joint OSCE-UN office is
currently headed by a Swiss. In addition, Switzerland is part of NATO's
Partnership for Peace imitative, something that GCSP is itself involved in.
Switzerland's reputation as a ’neutral’ country has frequently been seen as one
of the country's key assets. I remain hopeful, nonetheless, that at some point in
the not-too-distant future, Switzerland will be able to offer the world its well-
honed diplomatic and negotiating skills as a member of the UN family.

Finally, I would like to say how much I admire the work of Geneva Centre
for Security Policy - it's central in a network of institutes, think tanks and
NGOs across the city which focus on security and related themes. These now
also include the Landmine centre and the newly created centre for the
Democratic Control of the Military. With this knowledge-base, Geneva is a
natural centre for Security Training. This city has the reputation as the world's
“humanitarian capital” - now that we consider security in the broader context,
including humanitarian aspects, perhaps it should become the “human security
capital” too.

Thank-you for your attention.

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