Toespraak minister Hennis-Plasschaert bij Future Force Conference 2017

Toespraak | 21-02-2017

Turning the tide: the need to mobilise the force for good

Excellencies, generals, admirals, ladies and gentlemen,

Perhaps you recognise the man in the middle of this picture. Perhaps you don’t. It is a picture taken thirty years ago, in 1987. Some people call him the Neil Armstrong of the Arab world. Many roads, a school, and even an airport are named after him.

His name is Muhammed Faris.

The first and only Syrian to travel to space. Here, you see Mr. Faris sitting in between two Russian spacemen, his colleagues back then. Colleagues with whom he conducted scientific experiments.

When asked about his journey into space, Mr. Faris used to say:

“Those seven days, 23 hours, and five minutes changed my life.  Because when you have seen the whole world through a little window from space…there is no us and them…. no politics.”

It is also…why he decided…to take on a new mission. When Mr. Faris returned home, he decided to quit the Syrian military, and started educating his people in science and astronomy. So he could, as he later said, “pass on the privilege” he had been given.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today, Muhammed Faris, 67-years-old, is a refugee.

In 2012, he decided to break with the Assad regime…and crossed on foot into Turkey with his family.

He could - no longer - bear to see Syrian pilots - some of whom he had himself trained - he could no longer bear to see them bombing the Syrian people.

At this very moment Mr. Faris is running a small office in a ramshackle building in Istanbul. From there, he does his utmost to help the people from his beloved country…his country that he once saw from space.

And every time someone asks him about his dreams he says: “I just want to sit at home in my country, in my garden, and see children play outside, without the fear of bombs.”

A wish so simple, and yet so universal!

Ladies and gentlemen,

Although I find it important to dare to dream, I am not a dreamer. Security in the world has seriously deteriorated since the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011 and Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Unfortunately, there is little likelihood of it improving any time soon. We have to be realistic. We are living in a time of violent change. And we simply need to do a lot more to remain secure, in Europe and elsewhere.

But I also ardently believe that we need to mobilise the force for good. That we need to continue to try to bring stability to the world around us. To turn the tide in places like Syria. I believe that most people in this world continue to share Muhammed Faris’ fundamental wish for peace.

And that we need to show - at least - some of the courage and rectitude shown by people like Mr. Faris, in order to indeed turn the tide.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is - for this reason - that I regard this Future Force Conference as unique and important. This conference brings together a broad range of talented people and widely respected organisations. This is important because we can thus forge new bonds, and strengthen existing ones at the same time.

Only by combining all of our efforts for a more secure world, can we hope to change the world for the better. In fact, joining hands and connecting disciplines has  -- never before – been so important.

Nowadays there is no such thing…as crossing a border…in order to isolate oneself from what happens in the rest of the world. And we simply cannot focus on our economy or political and social stability or humanitarian issues, while ignoring fundamental security issues.

And vice versa. Things have simply become too interconnected in so many complex ways. And yes, the pace of events has increased, too. In the digital age, it might only take seconds for a threat to manifest itself at home.

To address today’s security challenges, we therefore need an approach that transcends national borders as well as various disciplines. An approach that joins up the efforts of the military with those of civilians.

Now, strengthening the armed forces is a clear necessity, certainly in a Europe long accustomed to peace and American leadership. But by itself, it is not enough to solve the security issues of today.

The Netherlands Ministry of Defence is therefore determined to strengthen its cooperation with a broad range of partners.

The Future Force is a force that knows how to connect with others. A force that is able to draw on flexible arrangements with many partners. A force that is adaptable enough to deal with a range of expected and unexpected contingencies.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Take the region where Muhammed Faris was born: the Middle East. This region has been in a state of chaos for more than five years now…with each passing year bringing more instability, bloodshed and human suffering. And let’s face it: the crisis in the Middle East is much more than just a regional crisis. It has transcended borders. It has had a truly terrible impact on security in many parts of the world.

Just look at this map,  showing all the terrorist attacks that have been inspired by Da’esh. In places as diverse as Paris, Istanbul, Sydney, Brussels, Cairo, London, Tripoli, Nice, Ottawa, and Berlin. In other words: the fight against terrorism is borderless. It is not only fought in the streets of Mosul and Fallujah. We also have to deal with it in our own inner cities.

Just a few weeks ago, I visited our men and women in uniform in Iraq, who train and help Kurdish and Iraqi fighters on the ground. It included a visit to Fallujah, which was completely devastated during many months of heavy fighting. It also included a visit to a casualty collection site near Mosul.

I think that troop visit was the one that made the most profound impression on me. There is a lack of everything. People have no water or electricity. Hospitals and schools have been destroyed. I came away really proud of what our men and women are achieving under such difficult circumstances. Together with Kurdish and Iraqi fighters, they are our first line of defence against the barbarism of Da’esh.

But the fight against terrorism is also borderless because it is waged with legal, social, political, economic, diplomatic and cultural means. And it is also waged in the virtual world of social media. For Da’esh and other terrorist organisations will continue to exploit these media to spread their poisonous propaganda.

It therefore has to be crystal clear that only by combining all of our efforts – be they military or civilian – can we hope to win the fight against terrorism.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Combining our efforts is also important if we are to remain secure in a world rife with new geopolitical tensions and technological change. We certainly do not want to be caught out by game-changing technology in the hands of opponents. Given the pace of technological developments, we need to do our utmost to prevent strategic surprise.

And I firmly believe that staying at the forefront is a precondition for our future security. Moreover, since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, we have been alerted to the particular threat of hybrid warfare.

This threat, too, is borderless and multi-dimensional. It affects all of us.

It is designed to remain below the threshold of open interstate war. And to reap rewards that are normally associated with victory in war. Hybrid warfare is real indeed!

The destabilisation and dismemberment of Ukraine by Russia, through the use of armed proxies, is just the most obvious example. Even when hybrid challenges to our security are more ambiguous, they are serious.

They are often shrouded in propaganda, disinformation and deception. They are conducted in ways that make proper attribution very difficult to nail down. They eat away at stability one nibble at a time. Hybrid warfare is the most pernicious of threats.

Now, it is evident that cyber space - in particular - that cyber space risks becoming the battlespace of the future, as it is less well governed and regulated.We must therefore work hard to promote the development of international norms in cyber space.

It should be made abundantly clear what states, businesses and individuals can and cannot do in the cyber domain. Using cyber space to meddle in the democratic processes of any country, for instance, is clearly unacceptable.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

The challenges we face are clearly political, too. And they manifest themselves in our own societies. So this is not a time for politicians to sidestep their responsibility.The surge of globalisation in the past 25 years has led to an enormous increase in wealth, well-being and freedom.

It has benefited large numbers of people throughout the world. And yet, many societies are clearly also chafing under the pressures of globalisation. There is a strong and understandable desire among many citizens in Europe, the United States and elsewhere to ‘take back control’. By closing borders. By raising levies and protectionist walls. By reaffirming national identities. And even by leaving international institutions such as the EU.

But are such measures truly the answer to our problems?

Now, one of the central challenges we face today, I believe, is this: how can we restore control without resorting to measures which will result in fewer jobs, lower levels of well-being, less freedom and less security?

It is clear that we have to defend ourselves. That we have to fight the terrorists who attack our cities. That we have to combat international organised crime. That we have to stem the tide of refugees by bringing stability to afflicted regions.

But to achieve all of this, we need to cooperate. Within Europe. Within the Transatlantic Alliance. Across the globe. Between all of us here today. We need to think big and act small.

We need to maintain the international outlook that has also brought us so much that is good. And we need to uphold the values that are the very core of our being…as well as the key to our success.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Of course, there are many dimensions to this question of restoring a sense of control, dimensions that are not military.

But of one thing I am convinced: that in an uncertain world…armed forces, too, have an indispensable role to play: by bolstering our security, by bringing stability to the world around us, and perhaps even by strengthening a sense of belonging among our citizens.

Clearly, the armed forces are about much more than defending our territories, combating terrorism or participating in peacekeeping operations. They also have a lot to offer when it comes to crisis management, countering hybrid threats, conflict prevention and managing migration flows.

But as I said: the use of the military alone is never enough.

On the contrary, the growing diversity and complexity of conflicts require a much broader approach. The efforts of a huge array of actors, civil and military, these efforts are all necessary in order to achieve a more secure, stable and just world.

We are all part of an ‘ecosystem’ of sorts, a system in which we depend on each other.

And I am convinced that the quality of our cooperation within this ‘ecosystem’ will determine our future security. I am convinced that this cooperation will be the decisive factor for the success of the Future Force.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Do you see that dot? That small, blue balloon, hanging delicately in the nothingness of space? That is, of course, Earth, much like Muhammed Faris saw it 30 years ago from space. That is us. The ecosystem that counts the most.

On this tiny planet, we depend on each other like never before. Let us start behaving accordingly. Let us start turning the tide. Let us mobilise the force for good. And let us pay tribute to the wish of Mr Faris, a world where children can play outside, without the fear of bombs.

Thank you.