At the invitation of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ambassador Dr. Mohammed Shaker, and Ambassador Dr. Ezzat Saad attended the fifth Moscow International Security Conference, organized by the Ministry annually since 2011 on 27^th -28^th  April 2016.

Around 700 participants, including 20 defense ministers from various countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America, with close ties to Russia, as well as a large delegation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) headed by its Secretary-General, Hamid Karzai, the Former Afghani President, and two deputies of Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The conference was opened by Russian Defense and Foreign Ministers Sergey Shoyjo and Sergei Lavrov. The opening session began with a welcome speech by President Putin delivered by Nikko Lay Petrushev, Secretary of the Russian National Security Council, and the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, who delivered a welcome speech on behalf of Ban Ki-moon. The following is a review of the most important topics of the Conference.

• The Conference focused on the following:

• Terrorism as a major threat to the global security:

In this session, various forms of contemporary terrorism, military-defensive cooperation in the face of terrorism, and the exploitation of terrorist organizations in achieving foreign policy objectives were addressed. At this meeting, the defense ministers of China, Pakistan, the Russian First Deputy Defense Minister, the Former Afghani President Hamid Karzai and Peter Drennan, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, spoke.

• Security Challenges and opportunities of the international military-military cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region:

The meeting discussed opportunities for building a security and cooperation structure in the Asia-Pacific region, the political-military climate in North-East Asia, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, threats of regional security, military-bilateral and multilateral cooperation among the countries of the region and ASEAN Group in strengthening security in the Asia-Pacific region. The defense ministers of Vietnam, Singapore, Laos and India’s State Secretary of Defense spoke at that the meeting.

• Global security and military cooperation:

  In The meeting, which was attended by the Ministers of Defense of Iran, Mongolia, South Africa, Lebanon, Cameroon, and the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the challenges and threats to security and the role of the armed forces in modern conflicts were discussed.

• Problems of war and peace in Europe: “Towards a New Security System in Europe”:

This session dealt with the effectiveness of current security mechanisms in Europe, the need to modernize them, and military cooperation to maintain stability in Europe – as well as the role of the international organizations in ensuring European security, the situation in the Middle East and its implications for European security.

Ambassador LambertoZannier, Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Ministers of Defense of Belarus and Serbia, Stefan Misk, former President of Croatia, Sergei Makarov, member of the Staff of the Russian Military Academy , And Alexander Zer, member of the German Council on Foreign Policy, spoke at that meeting.

• In addition to the plenary meetings referred to above, parallel panel discussions were held on the following issues:

• The Middle East: “Interlocking Contradictions”:

The Syrian Deputy Defense Minister Mahmoud Shawwa, Brigadier Sergey Ruddskoy, at the  Operations Department of the Russian Armed Forces Staff, Schindler Hans-Jacob, Coordinator of Taliban and Al-Qaeda monitoring team at the United Nations Security Council, Jean-Paul Labored, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council, Assistant Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Pascal Boniface, the Director of the Institute for International and Strategic Relations of France, and YveDaccord, the Director of (ICRC), attended the meeting.

• Traditional and Modern International Security Challenges:

The Deputy Ministers of Defense of the Philippines, Chile and Argentina addressed the meeting and addressed the following issues in particular:

– The evolving nature and forms of security challenges and threats;

– The ability to address recent challenges and threats through existing international security mechanisms;

– The role of the international cooperation in confronting traditional and modern security challenges;

– Use of modern technologies to identify and address security threats;

– Finding solutions to international security threats.

• Color Revolutions and Regional Security: “The Role of the Armed Forces in Ensuring the NationalStability”:

This session dealt with the expansion of the phenomenon of color revolutions, the special factor of the armed forces in these revolutions, and its implications for global security and regional stability. The session also addressed those revolutions as “a key factor in the outburst of global terrorist activity”.

The meeting was attended by Major General Mohamed Abdel Fattah Al-Kashki, Assistant of the Egyptian Minister of Defense, Sergey Afanasyev, the Deputy Director of the Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces Staff, German Klimenko, Advisor to President Putin, YevgenySataNovski, the Chairman of the Middle East Institute in Moscow and the Deputy Minister of Defense of Uruguay, and Rafaello Pantucci, the Director of the Royal Institute for International Security Studies in the United Kingdom.

The Assistant of Minister of Defense presented the close and interactive relationship between the Egyptian people and its armed forces and the considerations behind it, especially the compulsory recruitment system under which the various categories of the Egyptian people have the opportunity to serve and work in the armed forces equally.He also presented a short film reflecting the interconnection and interaction between the Egyptian people and its armed forces during the June 30, 2013 revolution and July 3, 2013.

• Security in Central Asia:

This session addressed an assessment of the current situation and forecasting the political-military changes in Central Asia, the factors affecting security within it, defense cooperation in maintaining security in Afghanistan and Central Asia in general, the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for security in neighboring countries and the role of the international organizations in strengthening regional security. This meeting received great attention and attendance.

The meeting was attended by the Tajik Deputy Defense Minister AbdulkhoshimGulomzoda, Acting Minister of Defense of Afghanistan Masoom Stanekazi,  Ambassador PhunchokStobdan, Member of the Institute of Defense Studies of India, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan Zhanybek Kaparov and the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Russian Federal Council the Konstantin Kosachyoy.

• Comments:

In their opening remarks and interventions, senior Russian officials, including Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of the Russian National Security Council, and the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs pointed out in particular:

– Putting the crash of the Russian plane over Sinai in October 2015 in the forefront of other incidents that occurred during the past months to demonstrate that terrorism is a serious challenge the entire international community has to face.

-Putin’s initiative to form a broad international coalition against terrorism.He had presented it during his participation in the work of the 70^th session of the United Nations General Assembly in August 2015.

-Satisfaction with the successes achieved by the Russian armed forces and the Syrian armed forces in combating terrorist organizations in Syria. In this context, Lavrov stressed that the Russian military intervention stopped the victories and progress of terrorists on several fronts, which was praised by the former French Prime Minister.

– Russia is interested in building a peaceful and prosperous Middle East, and is interested in finding a settlement for the Palestinian state on a two-state basis, ensuring security for the Gulf and stabilizing the situation in Central Asia and Afghanistan.

– It is a grave mistake, even a crime, to classify extremists to moderates and terrorists, and to provide the first group with weapons.

– Russia is keen to coordinate with the United States of America to look into incidents when launching counter-terrorism operations in Syria, and the signing of a protocol by the two sides in this regard.

– Russia – like the United States of America –is a permanent member of the Security Council. Therefore, it has the responsibility to maintain international peace and security, and it is incorrect to accuse Russia of destroying Syria and playing a negative role there. In this context, some Russian officials referred to what they called the series of failures of military interventions in Iraq and Libya, and the resulting spread of extremism and terrorism.

– Russian officials complained of what they called a wide media war against Russia and the pitting of Europe on it, especially the former Central and Eastern European communist countries “NATO members”, which created an atmosphere of arms race. Some Russian officials have referred to the incident of the overthrow of a Russian fighter jet by Turkey as a model for the adventures of the attack on Russia.

– It is difficult to build a strong European military alliance without Russian participation (as stated by the President of the Council of Europe before the Conference), and actions must precede words; Russia should not be seen as an enemy, but as a partner acting responsibly.

-It was emphasized that the fight against terrorism and the principles governing it are a key part of the Russian military doctrine. It was also pointed out that the overthrow of the legitimate governments in Libya, Iraq and Syria led to the instability of the situation and the spread of terrorism in those countries.