The International Relations and Security Network (ISN) was part of the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, which is located in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It was an online information service that provided a range of

open access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...

products and resources that concentrated on

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

(IR) and

security studies __NOTOC__ Security studies, also known as international security studies, is an academic sub-field within the wider discipline of international relations that studies organized violence, military conflict, national security, and international s ...

. In 2016, the ISN ceased to be a stand-alone project and was fully integrated into its parent organization as CSS Resources.

Overview

The ISN was established in 1994 as a means of improving cooperation between security policy institutes and to make research programs, projects and papers widely available on the internet. It was initially sponsored by the

Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports The Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS, , , , ) is one of the seven Ministry (government department), departments of the Switzerland, Swiss federal government. It is headed by a member of the Federal Council (Switze ...

, the

Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA, , , , ), so named since 1979, is one of the seven Departments of the Swiss government federal administration of Switzerland, and corresponds in its range of tasks to the ministry of foreign affa ...

, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, the

United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) is a research institute of the United Nations focused on disarmament and international security. It was established in 1980 by the United Nations General Assembly with the stated ...

and the Center for Security Studies. Its mission developed to promote dialogue and cooperation in the fields of international relations and security studies, primarily by creating, distributing and processing open access information on these issues. The ISN was also a co-organizer of the Swiss-sponsored International Security Forum (ISF), which is a large conference held every two years in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and

on a rotating basis.

Directors

* Kurt R. Spillmann (1994–2002) * Andreas Wenger (2002–2016)

Activities

The ISN's web-based, information-providing activities and services were divided into three main categories. *

Digital Library A digital library (also called an online library, an internet library, a digital repository, a library without walls, or a digital collection) is an online database of digital resources that can include text, still images, audio, video, digital ...

– The ISN's Digital Library began as a repository of declassified

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

documents and conference proceedings relevant to PfP countries. Prior to the end of the project, the library contained over 70,000 downloadable publications including journal articles, books, working papers and government reports. The Digital Library also included an archive of web articles, blog posts, podcasts and videos as well as a directory of international organizations, NGOs, research institutes and other organizations active in the field of international relations and security. * Editorial Products – In cooperation with its partner network, the ISN published daily expert analyses, commentaries and blog posts as well as regular multimedia features on current IR- and security-related issues. It also provided Dossiers on a range of topics relevant to the international relations and security community. * Communities and Partners – The ISN provided an online knowledge network of 249 partner institutions and affiliates, consisting of

international organizations An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own leg ...

(IOs),

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

s (NGOs), state ministries,

think tanks A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-gov ...

, universities and research institutes.International Relations and Security Network (ISN)
Partner Network
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References

External links

International Relations and Security Network (ISN)
(official website)
Center for Security Studies (CSS)
.

{{authority control Swiss websites International security Research institutes of international relations Political research institutes ETH Zurich Peace and conflict studies