1st EuroISME Annual Conference
16–17 June 2011
École Militaire, Paris
Conference Report
The International Society for Military Ethics (ISME) is the first organisation of scientists, academic professors and military practitioners engaged in research as well as in education and training in the field of professional military ethics. For years simply an informal meeting of interested parties, in 2005 ISME incorporated as a non-profit organisation in the United States.
In 2011, some European members, namely Prof. Dr. Henri Hude from the Saint-Cyr Research Center (CREC) in France, Dr. David Whetham from the King's College of London / UKDA and Colonel (rted. / German Army) Manfred Rosenberger, consultant at the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation, and a few interested institutions decided to create a new chapter of ISME, based in Europe, in order to better focus their work on the specific European approach to the analysis, development and promotion of best practice throughout the armed forces of the members of the European defence community.
The Inaugural Conference on “Ethics and Alliances” was held at the Ecole Militaire in Paris on the 16th and 17th of June 2011. The meeting gathered about 100 experts from all continents, who contributed tom a lively discussion on topical challenges for the transatlantic military cooperation and ethical issues in existing Alliances.
The result of the conference was solidified in January 2012, when the new “Euro-ISME” was registered as a non-profit organisation under French law (association loi 1901).
Conference Items
The opening speech was given by General Jean-Louis Georgelin former Chief of the Defence Staff ("Chef d'état-major des armées", CEMA) of the French Armed Forces and than Great Chancellor of the French national order,
the Légion d'honneur.
Keynote speeches were given by his Excellency, Msgr Luc Ravel, catholic bishop of the Diocese of the French Armed Forces since October 2009, the French Lieutenant General Michael Yakovleff, Vice Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Professor Martin L. Cook, Admiral James Bond Stockdale Chair of Professional Military Ethics at the United States Naval War College and George R. Lucas, Jr., owning the Distinguished Chair in Ethics in the Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Impressions from the conference
