We welcomed eight speakers with military, government and academic backgrounds from China, Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom for two days of presentations and debate on 'The Situation in West Asia and North Africa and its Impact on the International Strategic Configuration'. Our audience was drawn from the PLA Academy of Military Science, the PLA National Defense University and other Chinese research institutions. We were also honored to welcome the Ambassador of Sweden to China, His Excellency Lars Fredén, and several representatives of the Swedish and British embassies in Beijing.

We would like to express our deep appreciation to our hosts at the PLA Academy of Military Science, to the Chinese scholars who gave us the benefit of their expertise and finally to our international speakers, who traveled such a great distance to participate in this event. 

Day 1, September 16

Morning session, chaired by Major General Wang Weixing, Director of the World Military Studies Department, AMS

• Opening speech by Major General He Lei, Head of the Science Research Guidance Department, AMS
• Opening speech by Niklas Swanström, Director, Institute for Security and Development Policy, Sweden
• Presentation on "Basic Views on the Current Political Turbulence in Middle East and North Africa" by Dr. Li Rong, former Director of the Asia-Africa Institute, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) (China)
• Presentation on "Explaining the Uprisings and Predicting their Future Course" by Professor Timothy C. Niblock, Emeritus Professor, Chair of the Management Board of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, and Special Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor on the Middle East, University of Exeter (UK)
• Presentation on "Causes of the Social Unrest in West Asia and North Africa" by Ambassador Robert Rydberg, Deputy Director-General, Head of Department for Middle East and North Africa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Sweden)

Afternoon session, chaired by Brigadier General Mats E. Engman, Head of Swedish Armed Forces International Operations

• Presentation on "Rethinking the Libya Civil War from an International Governance Perspective" by Professor Wang Lincong, Professor of Political Science and History and Director of the International Relations Division of the Institute of West Asian & African Studies and Secretary-General of the Gulf Research Center, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (China)
• Presentation on "Military Intervention in Libya to Protect Civilians" by Lieutenant Colonel Joachim Isacsson, Lecturer, Strategic Studies at the Swedish National Defence College, Institute for Security and Strategy, former Head of Asia Section in the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters (Sweden)

Day 2, September 17

Morning session, chaired by Senior Colonel Nie Songlai, AMS

• Presentation on "Impact of the West-Asia and North-Africa Turbulence on the International Strategic Configuration" by Major General Chen Zhou, Senior Fellow, Department of War Theories and Strategic Studies, Academy of Military Science, PLA (China)
• Presentation on "Regional Implications of the 'Arab Spring'" by Mr. Greg Shapland, Head of Research Analysts, Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), London (UK)
• Presentation on "China's National Security Strategy and its UNSC Policy on Libya" by Professor Liselotte Odgaard, Associate Professor, Institute for Strategy, Royal Danish Defence College (Denmark)

Afternoon session: Roundtable Discussion chaired by Dr. Niklas Swanström and Senior Colonel Nie Songlai

• Closing speech by Niklas Swanström, Director, Institute for Security and Development Policy, Sweden
• Closing speech by Major General Wang Weixing, Director of the World Military Studies Department, AMS

Other participants:

• Major General Dr. Yao Yunzhu, Senior Fellow of the Academy of Military Science (AMS)
• Major General Karsten Jakob Møller, Senior Analyst, Danish Institute for International Studies, Head of Research Unit Defence and Security (Denmark)
• Senior Colonel Xu Weidi, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Strategic Studies, National Defense University, PLA
• Dr. Lu Dehong, Director of Research Department, China Foundation for International & Strategic Studies
• Dr. Sangsoo Lee, Research Fellow, ISDP
• David Mulrooney, Research Fellow, ISDP