News
International security conference coming to Halifax

July 31, 2009, Halifax – A major international conference on transatlantic security will be held in Halifax November 20-22, 2009. The conference will attract approximately 300 top leaders from government, industry, and academia, including members of the US Congress, State Governors, and senior representatives from the European Union and NATO.

        The conference is being organized by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States, a non-partisan American public policy and grant-making institution dedicated to promoting greater cooperation and understanding between North America and Europe. The Halifax International Security Forum will be the GMF's first-ever public event in Canada.

"This organization does incredibly important work in international cooperation and security, so it is a significant milestone for Atlantic Canada to host this event," said the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway. "The forum will allow for the sharing of new ideas, while promoting awareness of our region to leaders from both sides of the Atlantic."

The Halifax International Security Forum's inaugural meeting will help build a closer relationship between Canada, the United States, and Europe, centred on a new and forward-looking global security agenda. Discussions will focus on a set of core issues central to this goal, including the rule of law in the 21st century, energy security, the current economic crisis and its impact on global security, proliferation of nuclear weapons, and other core and emerging issues.

The GMF was founded in 1972 though a gift from Germany as a permanent memorial to post-World War II Marshall Plan assistance to help rebuild that nation's economy. The organization is based in Washington, DC, with offices in Ankara (Turkey), Belgrade (Serbia), Berlin (Germany), Bratislava (Slovakia), Brussels (Belgium), Bucharest (Romania), and Paris (France).