SMPC 2013 - 'Prospects for Partnerships'

SMPC 2013 will take place 25 – 27 June 2013 in Stockholm, Sweden. This annual event enables Chiefs of Defence of NATO and Partner nations to share their perspectives on strategic issues of common interest.

Purpose
SMPC is a core event within SACT's Strategic Engagement Campaign. Its target audience consists of CHODs of NATO, Partnership for Peace (PfP), Mediterranean Dialogue (MD), Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) and Partners across the Globe (PatG), and informs them about NATO's transformational efforts. By creating a common understanding amongst a wide array of Partners and members of the Alliance alike, the intent of SMPC is to facilitate the exchange of ideas regarding transformation throughout the trans-Atlantic community.

SACT will take the findings from SMPC to craft best military advice regarding NATO's transformational efforts.

Approach
In the past, the conference was a means for NATO to transmit new concepts and ideas to partners. But as a decade of operations together in places like Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa have both broadened and intensified partnerships, we are re-calibrating SMPC to be a forum for the mutual exchange of ideas.

Hence, this year's SMPC will address where we stand in terms of partnerships one year after the Chicago Summit and identify ways we can evolve cooperation further. We will look to our shared future and ask key questions: what should we expect and how will we be connected and interoperable, and how will we prepare for emerging security challenges? Answers to these questions will shape our common security frameworks.

Methodology
The conference consists of two major parts:

The CHODs Day:
The first day of the conference promotes strategic-level discussion through presentations. The following Q&A sessions enable national perspectives to dovetail from the presentations. Since the SMEs will be present, it is the hope of SMPC's organisers that presentations, combined with substantive Q&A sessions, will create common understanding and lay the foundation for the following workshops at the SME level.

The Workshops:
The CHOD's plenary will be followed by syndicate sessions. These breakouts will allow Representatives and Subject Matter Experts to examine issues in greater detail.

Outcome
National perspectives will be organised into the SMPC Analysis Report, which will feed the ACT transformational development process. The report will be forwarded to all relevant NATO authorities, including the Secretary General, the IS, the IMS, and all conference participants.

ACT Point of Contact
LTC Stefan Keip
Tel: +1 (757) 747-3473
Fax: +1 (757) 747-3710
email: stefan.keip@act.nato.int