The 2010 Security Jam was a ground-breaking online brainstorming on the key challenges to 21st century global security. Some 4,000 leading political and military figures, security and defence practitioners, civil society representatives, think-tankers, NGOs, academics and journalists took part in this five-day, round-the-clock discussion from around the world – Admiral James Stavridis, SACEUR, jammed from 20,000 feet while explorer Alain Hubert jammed from Antarctica. The Security Jam was set up in 10 forums, covering climate change; crisis management, Afghanistan; relations with Russia and China; piracy; development; the comprehensive approach; human rights; and capabilities and training. VIPs such as General Håkan Syrén, EUMC Chairman and Lt. Gen. David Leakey, then EUMS Director General, Kai Eide, then UN Special Representative to Afghanistan, Josette Sheeran, Director of the UN World Food Programme, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, former NATO Secretary General, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Director of Policy Planning in the US State Dept and Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, OSCE Secretary General kept feeding the discussion with original insights and answered direct questions from fellow jammers.
The Security Jam report, containing innovative recommendations for improving security policies, was presented to the EU and NATO leaderships and was distributed in hard copy to 3,000 senior policymakers in Europe, the United States and beyond.
The Jam provided both the EU and NATO with significant food for thought at a moment when both institutions were looking for new ways to tackle global security challenges within more cooperative frameworks.
The Security Jam was organised by the Security & Defence Agenda (SDA) and IBM, with the support of NATO and the European Commission, and the governments of France, Sweden, and the United States. Collaboration from a coalition of think-tanks covering the full political spectrum made the Security Jam a truly global forum: Chatham House, The Atlantic Council of the United States, the Global Humanitarian Forum, the Open Society Foundation, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Carnegie Europe, Barcelona Centre for International Studies (CIDOB), the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, Bertelsmann Stiftung, the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, all contributed to this unique opportunity. The Jam was further supported by the Munich Security Conference, Europe’s World, Thales and UTC.