Leangkollen Security Conference 2020 | The China Challenge: Remaking the Landscape of Transatlantic Security

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Day 1 of the 2020 Leangkollen Security Conference

Day 2 of the 2020 Leangkollen Security Conference

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With the 2020 Conference title, “The China Challenge: Remaking the Landscape of Transatlantic Security”, we sought to debate which new challenges and opportunities that may emerge from the rise of China. At the opening session in the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide gave a speech in which she outlined just this, as she highlighted the importance of finding the right balance between cooperation and competition in our relation to China. Our keynote speaker at the Nobel Institute, Professor Robert S. Ross gave a speech entitled “Toward a New Global Security Order”, focusing on what is happening to the U.S. in its relationship to China, the changing balance of power in East Asia, as well as how the U.S. is responding to this – and implications for Europe and NATO. Mr. Ross’s speech laid the foundation for the topics to be discussed further during the conference.

The remainder of day one discussed China’s role in the global order, starting out with an interpretation of how China views itself in relations to other major stakeholders in world politics, continued by views by the U.S., Russia and the EU. The first day of the Conference ended with a discussion on Global order and Chinese Power Projection, as the speakers talked about China’s soft power strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as cyber and technology. The second day of the conference we turned the attention to the military aspect, and the first session was opened by the Norwegian Chief of Defence, Admiral Haakon Bruun-Hanssen. The following topics dealt with the meaning of China’s growing military power and China’s ambition in the Arctic. The Conference ended with a debate on how a new bipolar order could impact small states such as Norway, if U.S. preoccupation with Asia should leave Europe more alone to guarantee for its own security.


Other speakers at the Conference included Norwegian Chief of Defence, Admiral Haakon Bruun-Hanssen, Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) and former commaner United States Army Europe, Lt. General Ben Hodges, Professor at London School of Economics, William A. Callahan, and Research Director for Belfer Center's China Cyber Policy Initative at Harvard Kennedy School, Julia Voo.

See the full program here.

If you have any questions related to the Conference, please contact Andrea Sofie Nilssen (andrea@dnak.org).