By invitation only.
This is a hybrid event.
- In-person participation: Limited to 100 participants
- Location: GCSP, Maison de la paix
- Online participation: Available via livestream
Please note:
- Participation in the daytime anniversary programme is free of charge and registration is mandatory.
Accommodation and travel costs are to be covered by participants
For the 40th Anniversary of the LISC (formerly ITC) and the 30th Anniversary of the ESC (formerly ETC), the GCSP is delighted to host a joint anniversary event on Friday, 18 September 2026.
This milestone event will bring together alumni and experts to reflect on the evolution of European and international security over the past three/four decades while examining the strategic challenges shaping the years ahead.
Two high-level panels will critically assess how security thinking and practice are adapting to a context shaped by geopolitical fragmentation, technological disruption, and increasing normative contestation.
The European Security Course (ESC) has long emphasised the importance of situating regional dynamics within broader global trends. Today, Europe’s security environment is characterised by simultaneous crises and structural shifts that challenge earlier assumptions about stability, integration, and predictability.
At the international level, security is increasingly shaped by the interaction between rules-based frameworks and more transactional approaches to cooperation and competition. These dynamics do not replace one another but coexist - often uneasily - creating new forms of uncertainty for policymakers and practitioners.
Over four decades, the Leadership in International Security Course (LISC) has focused on navigating this complexity. In the current environment, this requires not only analytical agility but also the ability to operate across fragmented systems, manage ambiguity, and translate evolving frameworks into actionable policies.
You will gain
- Key insights into the evolving European and international security landscape, including current drivers of fragmentation and change
- Reflections on leadership and decision-making in contexts of complexity and uncertainty
- Perspectives on how security frameworks need to evolve to meet shifting geopolitical and institutional dynamics
- An opportunity to reconnect with fellow alumni and GCSP experts, as well as engaging with the wider alumni community
We look forward to welcoming you to this milestone anniversary to reconnect, reflect, and contribute to the evolving conversation on international security.
Event Agenda
The times indicated below are CEST – Geneva time.
09:30-10:00 Welcome Coffee
10:00-10:15 Official Opening & Welcome Remarks
10:15-12:15 LISC Panel: What Leadership is Needed Today? Navigating Complexity, Uncertainty, and Systemic Change
12:30-14:00 Standing Lunch
14:00-16:00 ESC Panel: Europe in a Fragmenting Security Landscape: Continuity, Rupture, and Strategic Adaptation
16:00-16:30 Coffee Connections Session
16:30-17:00 Closing Remarks
By invitation only.