CPD Director Delivers Address at Canadian Security Intelligence Service Conference

CPD Director Philip Seib spoke at a conference of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in Ottawa, Ontario February 21-22. The conference, “Informing (In)Stability: The Security Implications of a Shifting News and Media Environment,” drew many Canadian officials, and speakers included scholars and practitioners from around the world, including Denmark, Singapore, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, and the United States. Seib presented “Al Jazeera: Bridging and Dividing,” and addressed prominent issues relating to Al Jazeera’s presence and influence as a major news network in the Middle East and around the world. The conference aimed to examine the security consequences of an ever-changing media environment through the point of view of intelligence and addressed the dynamic relationship between citizens and governments vis-à-vis information and knowledge.

The conference was held as part of the academic outreach program of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, an initiative launched in 2008. The outreach program was established to allow experts in Canada opportunities to engage in dialogue with non-governmental specialists, develop their contextual understanding of evolving security issues, and foster research contributions. Several conferences, seminars, and workshops held by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have produced reports that are accessible on its website.

For further analysis of the specific impact of Al Jazeera English, please refer to Philip Seib’s forthcoming book, Al Jazeera English: Global News in a Changing World (Palgrave Macmillan, February 2012).

For further discussion of the interplay between real-time media and diplomacy, please refer to Philip Seib’s forthcoming edited book, Real-Time Diplomacy: Politics and Power in the Social Media Era (Palgrave Macmillan, April 2012).