Global Security: in Search of a New Vision - Center for Strategic ...

Chapter 6
Opening Remarks: An Industrial View
On the International Security Scenario
Dr. Giorgio Zappa 1
Iam really glad to wel come you in Rome. We are hon ored that the 2008 edi tion of the Global Secu rity
Con fer ence is being held in the city where Finmeccanica has its head quar ters. Finmeccanica, as you
know, is one of the major inter na tional groups oper at ing glob ally in the aero space defense and secu -
rity sec tor and is one of the world’s lead ing groups in the field of heli cop ters and defense elec tron ics.
Now that we recently pur chased a U.S. com pany, Finmeccanica has three major mar kets: Italy, the U.K.,
and the United States.
THE INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO
The 2008 inter na tional sce nario in which global indus trial com pa nies like Finmeccanica play shows
spe cific phe nom ena that can be grouped into two main cat e go ries. In the first cat e gory, we have the
well-known dynam ics related to the changes in the geopolitical equi lib rium. In the sec ond cat e gory, we
have glob al iza tion issues that are becom ing very impor tant. There is also grow ing diver sity, both in the
type of play ers—new actors such as the Briga coun tries, sov er eign funds, inter na tional orga ni za tions
includ ing NGOs, trans na tional cor po ra tions, and ter ror ist groups—and in the type of meth ods and
strat e gies adopted to pur sue actions, vio lent or non-vio lent, based on lobbying or seeking support from
the public.
The grow ing insta bil ity in the con tem po rary inter na tional con text gives new shape to the defense
indus try, whose new role involves the need to ensure not only home land secu rity but eco nomic secu rity.
The effect of this change includes a con tin u ing attempt to improve the qual ity and the inno va tion of
prod ucts already in use and to set up new com mod i ties for the global mar ket. If the defense indus try does
not reach these goals, it will prob a bly miss an important opportunity.
The emerg ing con cept of secu rity, which includes home land secu rity or ter ri to rial con trol, now rep re -
sents a top pri or ity for us. Fac ing the cur rent inter na tional sce nario of insta bil ity, it def i nitely has many
implications for the high-tech industry. The post-September 11 environment dramatically highlights
1
Dr. Giorgio Zappa is Chief Operating Officer, Finmeccanica and Chairman, Alenia Aeronautica.