General

Over the last twenty years numerous events have altered the euphoria that the end of the Cold War brought to the international community and have shattered the illusions of a more peaceful world. The world has not become a safer place to live in. On the contrary, since the beginning of the twenty-first century, it seems that the ugly side of history - that of armed conflicts - has once again reared its head. Currently, many sources of instability threaten international security: local conflicts, states ravaged by civil war, authoritarian regimes, the continuation of unprecedented migration waves, religious terrorism, failed states as well as the struggle over energy resources. In addition, some local crises, if left uncontrolled, have the potential to spillover, spreading violence to the surrounding countries, thus affecting the whole region or even worse creating another world hotspot. Therefore, there is an understandable increase of interest regarding how to efficiently manage an interstate crisis and prevent an imminent armed conflict, since it is the only way to safeguard international peace and security.

The Security and Crisis Management International Conference «ATHENA» aspires to generate knowledge towards this end. This year, the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS), under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of National Defence, is organizing the 15th annual «ATHENA» conference, gathering civil, academic and military personnel from many countries and international organizations. The conference has been established as one of the most important events, assembling experts on international security and crisis management matters at political and military levels. «ATHENA» provides an international forum for new ideas and emerging concepts and approaches related to the discipline of crisis management. Featuring a range of special sessions, it firstly focuses on analyzing sources of instability in the current international security environment and then tries to explore emerging best practices in crisis response. Moreover, it seeks to promote discussion and exchange of views and experiences between various key partners, international actors as well as government officials and academics on multidimensional crisis management initiatives and common challenges.

The «ATHENA 18» conference will take place in Athens, from 13th until 15th of November 2018 at the "Hellenic Air Force Academy Auditorium", at Tatoi Airport, which is located in the area of Decelia. The main conference activities will take place on the first two days, whereas the final day (November 15th) will be aimed at social/cultural events.

On the first day the conference will address some key security challenges like migration, terrorism and energy security that have dominated Europe’s security agenda in recent years. Then on the second day it will seek to explore some critical elements of crisis management. Furthermore it will examine another issue of vital importance, the cooperation of the international community in an effort to protect world peace.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am honoured to welcome you to the website of the Security & Crisis Management International Conference «ATHENA-18».

The conference, which was launched for the first time in 1996, is organized by the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS) under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of National Defence and it has been established as one of the most important events in the Security & Crisis Management field.

At the time being, we face an unprecedented range of security challenges that highlight the need to anticipate, prepare for and respond effectively to crises events. «ATHENA-18» seeks to add knowledge towards this end. Hence, the Conference will firstly analyze the emerging challenges for the international security and then will present and evaluate new crisis management approaches and capabilities.

Aspiring to assemble distinct subject matter experts on these particular fields, both across governmental offices and academic institutes, «ATHENA-18» has invited representatives from nations and international institutions and organizations such as UN, NATO and EU.

I firmly believe that «ATHENA-18» will provide an excellent opportunity to highlight the international community concerns about the effectiveness of crisis management structures and procedures and I am sure that it will lead to essential and beneficial conclusions.