From 12–16 May 2025, the Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies, in partnership with U.S. Africa Command and the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), held a focused workshop with 31 participants in Casablanca, Morocco, on “The New Face of Security, Conflict and War.” The senior government and civilian security experts came from 15 countries. Together, they provided a broad spectrum of approaches and perspectives. Government officials’ preconceptions of security/threats and how conflict and wars should be and, in reality, are executed were challenged. It became obvious that “war” and how “security” is viewed today have radically changed across the region and the globe.

Under the leadership of Course Directors, Professor Anne Moisan (NESA Center) and Dr. Roger Albinyana (IEMed), and their Deputy, Fahad Malaikah (NESA Center), The New Face of Security, Conflict and War workshop represented a nine-year collaboration bringing various groups together to examine the shifts in “security.” The workshop continued analyzing the evolving nature of security, conflict and war with 10 sessions: Regional Trends and Security Threats; Evolving Warfare Strategies in the 21st Century; Human Security: The New Focus and Priority; Cyberwarfare: The Silent Battlefield; Technology, AI, Social Media and Weaponized Disinformation; Post-Conflict Recovery and Stabilization in the MENA Region; and a final open discussion session on Where Do We Go from Here? The workshop also included two breakout group discussions deep-diving into the “Ethics and Rules of Conflict,” building on the presentations during the workshop and capturing regional perspectives. The breakout groups provided opportunities for the entire group to share their candid personal perspectives and insights in a smaller, more intimate setting.

Starting with a broad review of a region inundated now and in the future with changing security challenges, the group analyzed both internal and external drivers, as well as technological developments. These will be critical to establishing effective future national, regional, and international strategies. These elements will also determine how these trends and players will impact ongoing and future conflicts and how to best prepare for this future reality. Security discussions on capacity building and the increasing challenges of transnational threats and non-traditional security challenges have tested traditional concepts of threats in the region, as well as redefined security more broadly with a pivot to the importance of “human security” and disinformation warfare playing an increasingly more important role in a nation’s security calculation. How states can best design and organize institutional capacity and, more specifically, security sectors for today’s demands while leveraging technologies for their success in the future will be critical. Lastly, the impact of cyber warfare, information operations, and hybrid warfare, and the convergence of technologies that directly impact how countries organize, how they fight, and, more importantly, what they can expect from enemy states and non-state actors in the region will determine and challenge future security operation choices. The effective control by states of sea, land, air, cyber, and space domains remains critical.

IEMed and the NESA Center moderated the speaker sessions and led the breakout groups. As valuable as the presentations were, the 24/7 opportunities between sessions and over meals for informal discussions, extensive and structured networking, and a variety of side-bar meetings provided opportunities for candid, unhampered deep-dive into topics and exchange of lessons learned/best practices with experts from across the region and continent. As a result, tailored contact hours at the workshop far exceeded those from the more traditional approach seen in NESA Center Foundation Courses. In addition, maintaining a ratio of NESA Center representatives to participants, in this case, 2:30 ensured the focus was very much on maximizing attention on/ownership by participants and allowed funding the maximum number of participants from across the region. All 10 speakers were from the region with two of the 10 being from the pool of North African NESA Center Top Tier/Influencer Alumni.

It cannot be overestimated that the workshop’s key role, as in past years, of establishing strong networking connections among countries of the region goes beyond simply their time in the workshop. These active engagements began and could be observed even before the workshop officially opened and continued throughout the four to five days. More specifically, meetings over meals provided participants with unconstrained exchanges. In addition, the variety of topics, speakers, and the mix of expertise from African security experts with extensive field experience, coupled with Professor Moisan and Fahad Malaikah’s personalized engagement within an informal/relaxed format, most positively impacted the attendees’ experience.