Safer Balkans Network Conference: Call for Papers

The Belgrade School of Security Studies (BSSS), research unit of the Centre for Civil-Military Relations (CCMR) will hold a regional conference entitled �Safer Balkans Network�, to discuss how security studies has been developed in the Western Balkans in the last decade and to explore the current state of academic and non-academic educational programmes in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro.

Lead by the assurance that there is unbreakable link among security, knowledge and democracy, CCMR sees this conference as a contribution to further enhancement of the academic influence and role in the security sector reform. The conference is also to serve as a place of exchange of experiences and ideas, as well as to foster academic security networking, particularly for the young security researchers.

We are interested in the way in which educational infrastructures meet the needs for new generations of security specialists. What are the contents and characteristics of the programmes, syllabus and methods used? How much are they correspondent to the new theoretical security paradigm? Are there adequate training programmes for those who already have a career in the security sector, are there continuous learning opportunities? Which nongovernmental educational programmes have been designed? How accessible are the educational and training programmes for security practitioners? How much of the literature, key documents and internet resources are accessible in local languages?

Original papers covering these issues are welcome to be submitted by the researchers from the aforementioned countries. Selected papers will be considered for publication.

Eligible participants: postgraduate students and PhD candidates, affiliated with the universities, nongovernmental organisations and independent research institutes.

Deadline for abstracts (up to 300 words): April 15, 2006 (New Times Roman, 12, 1.5 lines)
Deadline for papers (up to 6000 words): June 1, 2006

The two-day conference will be held in Serbia (vicinity of Belgrade) by the end of June, 2006, in English as a working language. The organiser will cover the travel expenses and the accommodation costs for the participants whose papers are accepted and received by the deadline. Along with the abstract, a candidate must submit CV and provide contacts of the two referees.

For more information, please contact

Marko Savkovic, Research Fellow
Belgrade School of Security Studies
Centre for Civil-Military Relations
www.ccmr-bg.org

E-mail: markosavkovic@ccmr-bg.org
Phone: + 381 11 3287 216; + 381 11 3287 334