About the program

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The Black Sea Security Program began in 2001 with the goal of encouraging a regional security system based on cooperation and integration.  It is unique in its mission to bring together leading policy makers in the Black Sea region with senior US officers to gain a deeper understanding of issues affecting the region and to encourage problem solving in areas of common interest.  The program involves senior military representatives and civilian security specialists from the United States and nine regional countries:  Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.  The 2005 program expanded to include two representatives from Kazakhstan.

The program aims to:

  • Deepen participants' understanding of global and regional strategy, defense organization, and military reform and restructuring;
  • Identify the very broad common areas of agreement that exist among the Black Sea nations and expose their officials and the US participants to the strong common history and shared values of the region;
  • Highlight the specific areas of current cooperation on issues of vital interest to these countries and, at the same time, identify those issues which divide them and present challenges to regional cooperation;
  • Expose the Black Sea officials to the free flow of ideas inherent in the pluralistic American system and within the US national security community itself by engaging them with policy makers who represent a wide range of viewpoints.

The 2005 Black Sea Security Program took place from March 30 – April 13, hosting 20 regional representatives and 20 Americans.  The regional delegation began the program in Ankara, Turkey on March 30 for a seminar on regional security concerns.  The group arrived at Harvard on April 2, where participants united with their American counterparts for an intense six-day curriculum at the Kennedy School of Government.  They continued on to Washington, DC for two days of meetings at the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and the Brookings Institution.
The next program will occur in April 2006, with the executive session at Harvard running from April 9-15.

Published with the support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.