Excellencies,
I will now make a statement in my national capacity as Federal Councillor and head of Switzerland’s Department of Foreign Affairs. I would like to begin by thanking the briefers for their excellent contributions.
New technologies are reshaping the relationships between people, organisations and our environment. This is not new.
What is new, however, is that the speed of progress is now far outpacing the biological speed of our evolution, creating deep fractures in society.
What was science fiction ten or fifteen years ago is about to become our new reality.
We have just heard an enlightening example of this earlier: the impact of advances in neuroscience and neurotechnology on peace and security will be significant.
Neurotechnologies will soon be able to improve soldiers’ precision, endurance, pain tolerance. These advances will allow soldiers to control additional limbs or acquire new senses, such as seeing in the dark.
The integration of artificial intelligence and neurotechnologies will enable ultra-fast decision-making, raising essential questions about decision control in war and, ultimately, about how to ensure the applicability of the Geneva Conventions.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Maintaining international peace and security is today an urgent and complex task, as this Council is well aware.
It therefore becomes even more urgent to prepare. In a word: to anticipate.
We are obliged to look at global dynamics through the prism of science, because its rapid acceleration will have a profound impact on all aspects of our lives, including peace and security.
We must prepare ourselves to address future challenges related to science. The future is here and now. “Hic et nunc”, as it is said in Latin.
This is the call that Switzerland is making today with the organization of this Briefing: to explore, understand and anticipate the role of science in security policy.
How can we uphold the UN Charter and international humanitarian law – which are more essential than ever - in the face of these disruptions? How can we defend our principles of humanity when faced with the dangers of dehumanizing wars?
Excellencies,
It is precisely to respond to this call that Switzerland founded the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) center in 2019.
With concrete results:
- First of all, the Open Quantum Institute - inaugurated last year - which aims to put quantum technology at the service of the common good, accessible to all.
- Then, this year, the Anticipation Gateway Initiative - launched just 10 days ago - which aims to democratize access to cutting-edge science and technology.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
"To govern is to foresee" ... as Adolphe Thiers said - the first president of the Third Republic of France, and I look at France - at the end of the 19th century.
The corollary of this maxim is less well-known, but just as true: "to fail to foresee is not to govern, but to run to one's doom".
Let's move forward in the right direction!
Although some of the aspects mentioned are reminiscent of a science fiction movie, we must integrate them in a transversal manner in the continuation of our work. This will prevent us from having normative elements arrive too late after the debate, rather than having anticipated and accompanied them.
Switzerland is convinced that the Security Council must continue to pay attention to scientific issues. It must rely on high-quality experts and tools, such as GESDA, that are already available. The Council must also consider the impact of these advances on peace operations.
We also recommend that the Secretary-General regularly inform the Council of scientific advances and their potential impact on peace, either through an annual briefing or in his thematic reports set out in the Council's agenda.
Finally, we also hope that other countries will regularly contribute to this central theme.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This Council must invest in anticipation.
You can rely on Switzerland's commitment, on the sharing of knowledge and scientific partnerships developed in particular within international Geneva.
I thank you for your participation in this briefing and I hope that we will regularly bring this common vision to this Council, and beyond.