Conference Report: Cooperation and Conflict in the Commons
29 June to 1 July 2010
Wyndham Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hotel
Virginia Beach, VA
Introduction
The Global Commons are those spaces on the high seas, air, earth orbit, and cyberspace that are not controlled by any state, but available for the common use of all. Understanding the unique security and military implications of the global commons for the United States and the NATO Alliance as a whole was the purpose of the Cooperation and Conflict in the Commons conference. The event took place from 29 June to 1 July 2010, at the Wyndham Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hotel in Virginia Beach, VA.
The Cooperation and Conflict in the Commons conference was jointly hosted by four organizations who have been working together since October 2009 in the planning and execution of the event. The four primary partners in the Global Commons Enterprise included:
- Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Civil-Military Relations;
- National Defense University, Institute for National Strategic Studies;
- US Joint Forces Command, Joint Futures Group; and
- NATO, Allied Command Transformation.
Welcoming Remarks from NPS President Oliver
NPS president, VADM Daniel Oliver, U.S. Navy (ret), welcomed the conference participants to the event and served as the host of the proceedings. He described the global commons as increasingly congested, contested, and competitive. and enjoined conference participants to think through security implications of the Global Commons as an organizing principal or intellectual construct across civil, commercial and military spheres.
VADM Oliver asked the conference participants to consider over the course of the conference what structures, platforms, standards, policies, mechanisms, regulations or incentives would be necessary to improve our collective ability to detect, withstand, attribute and/or recover from attacks in the commons. He then noted that if the United States and NATO Alliance cannot find meaningful ways to fuse government, private-sector, and military efforts, then we may potentially lose the commons to openly ambitious and unconstrained competitors that have little regard for the common good.
CCC Leadership Examines 'Impediments or Conduits for Cooperation of Conflict'
Many panel discussions took place over the three day conference, designed to allow experts and conference participants to interact on issues related to the topics being presented. Among these were several organized by participants from NPS, including one on “Impediments or Conduits for Cooperation or Conflict” with the participation of the Center on Contemporary Conflict's leadership.
On the “Impediments or Conduits for Cooperation or Conflict” panel, CCC Director, Dr. Anne Clunan presented on “Free Market Force Effects;” CCC Executive Director, Dr. Sandra R. Leavitt presented on “Collective Action and Free Riders;” and Professor of National Security Affairs and CCC member, Dr. Daniel J. Moran presented on “National Interest and the Problem of ‘Enclosure’.” They were joined by Larry Clinton, President of the Internet Security Alliance, who presented on “Cyber Market Incentives.”
Additional NPS Panels were held on the following topics: “Civil, Commercial and Military Sphere Integration,” “The Dimensions of Hybrid Threats,” “Adversary Methods of Intrusion, Exploitation or Attack,” “Common Interests or Complementary Opportunities for Collaboration,” “Policies, Regulations, Structures, Standards, Mechanisms or Incentives to Improve Collective Defense against Attacks in Outer Space,” and “Policies, Regulations, Structures, Standards, Mechanisms or Incentives to Improve Collective Defense against Attacks in Cyberspace.”
Click here to read the full Cooperation and Conflict in the Commons conference report. (PDF)