Annual Report 2020 – Center for Security Studies
Read the annual report here
The Corona pandemic has kept the world at the forefront in 2020 and beyond. For CSS, Corona had various consequences. The entire working day has been converted into a home office; the teaching offers, our dialogue platforms and our advice formats with our partners are now carried out online. Our employees have mastered the challenges associated with these changes very well – we would like to thank them for their flexibility and patience! The shift to online operations has gone surprisingly well overall, and many have been even more productive than average in their administrative efforts. On the other hand, the joint development of new innovative research themes failed and many projects with international and national partners had to be postponed.
In terms of content, our work also focused on the consequences of the pandemic on national and international policies. In many ways, Corona has reinforced trends that have already emerged, such as the growing competition between the great powers of the United States, Russia and China, which continues to gain importance regardless of the pandemic. It also raises a variety of issues, some of which are new, for Switzerland.
An important focus of our work in 2020 was the newly established special theme “The Security Policy Implications of the Coronavirus Crisis”. The emphasis here is on the management of national and international crises as well as on the impact of the crisis on international relations and national and international security policy. The authors of the Swiss Security Policy Bulletin 2020 focused on the consequences for Switzerland. In addition to an interview with Army Chief Thomas Süssli on the role of the armed forces in the pandemic, the new volume contains six other articles that take stock of the situation and raise important questions about improving the pandemic preparedness and crisis management. In contrast, the 2020 edition of Strategic Trends focuses on Corona’s implications for international politics, particularly regarding the rivalry between the United States and China and its consequences for Europe.
We look forward to returning to our offices soon and being able to interact directly with our scientific and political partners.
Read the annual report here