The Armed Forces Division of the Prime Minister’s Office organized a two-day-long training and workshop on country security issues titled Grey Zone Activities and Challenges in Bangladesh recently in Dhaka . Under the leadership of Muhammad Ferdaus, Lecturer and Coordinator of Postgraduate Programs in Disaster Management (PPDM) a group of faculty members and students attended the seminar. Dr. Imon Chowdhooree, Assistant Director, PPDM, and Shams Mansoor Ghani, Assistant Professor, PPDM, were on the participants’ team.
The seminar was attended by around 300 active participants from home and abroad. The seminar was inaugurated by Architect Yeafesh Osman, Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology.
Grey, as the name suggests, creates a confused area where the definition of peace and crime blurs and manipulations, strategic conflicts without the presence of authority appear, and often these kinds of activities lead to more violence and changes. Two distinguished professors from the George C. Marshal European Centre for Security Studies delivered their lectures in the seminar: Dr. Heather S. Gregg and Lt. Col. (DE) Falk Tettweiler.
Many academics and experts in the field delivered their lectures on various topics, and it was quite an interactive session for all participants. Among the issues discussed are cyber activities in the grey zone, economic and diplomatic manipulation in the gray zone, disinformation, etc.
The students and faculty members actively participated in the seminar, and as the question-answer session was moderately long, they asked questions and provided comments.