Workshop : Critical Infrastructure Protection

Critical Infrastructure Protection

In the time after September 11th 2001 a lot of effort, both political and scholarly, has gone into debating and deliberating various aspects of how to deal with and understand these new threats posed to Western societies.

In fact, the processes associated with and highlighted in the ‘war on terror’ have shown new political practices that question the meaning and function of many core political concepts. Inside/outside, war/peace, civil/military, normal/exceptional are but a few of the political distinctions put in play by these new practices.

One central but not well investigated political practice associated with how to make Western societies secure is that of critical infrastructure protection. Both in the US and in Europe, a range of political and administrative initiatives are underway in an attempt to secure the infrastructure - physical as well as virtual - on which society depends from a variety of threats.

This political practice actually touches upon many of the core political concepts mentioned above. What happens when security practices moves into society? How do you deal with and secure interdependent and interconnected systems in a global world? How can the functionality of borders be maintained against both de-territorialized and virtual threats? What does this mean for how we understand security and politics? These and many other questions are raised in connection with critical infrastructure protection and have to be discussed.

The aims of the workshop here in Copenhagen are to investigate the concept and to engage the practice of critical infrastructure protection both critically and from various perspectives. Hopefully the papers and the discussion will provide us with some further insights into the political consequences of these new practices.

Workshop, Critical Infrastructure Protection, University of Copenhagen, September 12, 2005

Program

9.00-9.15 Arrival

9.15-9.30 Welcome and Introduction, Ole Waever

9.30-11.45 1st SessionChair Lene Hansen

Ralf Bendrath: The American Cyber-Angst and the Real World - Any Link?

Myriam Dunn: Cyber-threats and countermeasures: Explaining Threat Politics in the Information Age

Maura Conway: Cyberterrorism and the Media: A study in the Construction of ‘Reality’

11.45-13.30 Lunch at Traktørstedet Rosenborg Slot

13.30-15.45 2nd SessionChair: Ole Waever

Philippe Bonditti: Digitalizing surveillance: Networking Anti-terrorism

James Der Derian:TBA

Kristian Søby Kristensen: Critical Infrastructure Protection and the Practice of Sovereignty

15.45-17.30 3rd Session Chair: Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen

Ronnie Lipschutz: Imperial Security Strategy and the New Warfare in the Naked City: Social Organizations and Networks as Critical Infrastructure

David Wood: Resilience versus renaissance in the Resurgent City

1730-1800 Concluding Remarks

Dinner at Restaurant VB Square

Practical information

Please find a map - not very good though - of Copenhagen on the next page indicating the position of your hotel, the University and the train station.

Arrival

You will all be arriving at Kastrup Airport. The easiest - and cheapest - way to get to the centre of town is to take the train. Escalators in the far end of the terminal in which you arrive will take you to the platforms. Take the train to Nørreport station, it is very close to the hotel and most, if not all, trains stop there. Alternatively get a cap; it will cost you around 25 euro.

Accommodation

You will all be staying at the Hotel King Arthur, close to downtown and the university. I have booked rooms in your names - so everything should be in order. You can check it out at www.kongarthur.dk. The address of the hotel is:

Hotel Kong Arthur

Nørre Søgade 11

1370 Copenhagen K

DK-Denmark

Tel. +45 3311 1212

The Workshop

It will be held at the University, 5 minutes walk from the hotel. The address is:

University of Copenhagen

Department of Political Science

Øster Farimagsgade 5

1014 Copenhagen K

DK- Denmark

The exact room will be provided later - the department of political science is moving at the moment so everything there looks like a construction site.