World Bank, Foreign Government Officials and Experts Prepare for 6th IISS Global Strategic Review
World Bank and Senior Representatives to Discuss
‘Changing Trends in Global Power and Conflict Resolution’
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) will bring together over four hundred senior government
officials, leading researchers, and many of the Institute’s influential members to discuss and address some of the
world’s most critical issues at the 6th IISS Global Strategic Review (GSR), to be held in Geneva from 12 to 14 September
2008.
The Keynote Address will be delivered by The Honorable Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank. Other noteworthy
speakers include: Prof. Kim Beazley, Political Science and International Relations, University of West Australia; Sir
Ronald Cohen, Chairman, Portland Trust; Christophe de Margerie, Chief Executive, Total; Nitin Desai, Member of the Prime
Minister's Council on Climate Change, India; Ambassador Kai Eide, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in
Afghanistan, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan; Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, Deputy Chairman,
Military Committee, NATO; Jean-Claude Mallet, President of the Commission of the French White Paper on Defence and
National Security; Dr Tony Tan, Deputy Chairman and Executive Director of GIC; Igor Yurgens, Executive Board Chairman,
Institute for Contemporary Development, Moscow; and Hoshyar Zebari, Foreign Minister of Iraq.
Nigel Inkster CMG, IISS Director of Transnational Threats and Political Risk, finds ‘The Global Strategic Review gives a
truly global perspective on all major security issues of current concern. Over a weekend in Geneva, it brings together
opinion formers and policy-makers from around the planet to debate the issues that affect all of us.’
The 2008 GSR will have six plenary sessions on: Russia, The International System and Current Conflicts; Regional
Perspectives on Conflict Resolution; Climate Change and International Security; Current Conflicts: Afghanistan and Iraq;
Europe and Conflict Resolution: Isolated or Engaged; and Economics, Security and Conflict Resolution. The fourteen
break-out groups will be held at two successive shifts and are open to observation, but strictly off-the-record.
For more information on delegate participation, the complete agenda, press policy and the history of the GSR, please
reference: IISS
Before the official start of the GSR, the IISS will be launching Abolishing Nuclear Weapons, an Adelphi Paper on the
requirements for the abolition of nuclear weapons by George Perkovich and James Acton on Friday, 12 September from
1100-1200. To attend the launch, RSVP to gsrpress@iiss.org.
For instructions on providing press coverage of the GSR or to receive additional information on the conference or
Adelphi Paper launch, please contact gsrpress@iiss.org.
Advance registration for the GSR is highly encouraged, owing to space restrictions. To register online, kindly contact
gsrpress@iiss.org to obtain the necessary URL, username and password.
About The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
The IISS is an international membership organisation based in London, and is both a limited company in UK law and a
registered charity. It has offices in the US and in Singapore that operate under its name with charitable status in each
jurisdiction. Founded in 1958, much of the Institute’s early work focused on nuclear deterrence and arms control, and
the Institute was influential in setting the intellectual structures for managing the Cold War. Over the last decade the
IISS has become a truly global organisation, with individual and corporate members in over one hundred countries. The
Institute’s high-profile publications are universally regarded as providing the best independent, internationally
sourced information and commentary on the main strategic events touching on national, regional and global security. The
IISS owes no allegiance to any government, or to any political or other organisation. The Institute's conference
activities are considered to be at the forefront of public policy development, given that its convening power is such
that it can often bring government officials and others together in forum that they could not easily manage for
themselves.
ENDS