Viking – for cooperation in international peace operations

Viking is one of the world’s largest international staff exercises, jointly planned and carried out by staff from the UN, EU, civilian authorities, police, military and representatives from humanitarian organizations. The aim is to train participants to meet the challenges of current and future multinational peace and crisis management operations by practicing cooperation in a fictional, war-torn country.

The exercise has been arranged regularly every few years since 1999. The last Viking exercise took place in 16 to 26 April 2018. It gathered some 2,500 participants from around 60 countries. There were four sites to practice in Sweden. Brazil, Bulgaria, Finland, Ireland and Serbia also took part in the training and hosted one site each.

Many different actors are active in international peace and crisis management operations. Intergovernmental organizations usually deploy field staff. Civil society organizations and humanitarian organizations second staff, as well as the Armed Forces and the Police. Viking provides an opportunity to familiarize with the complex and risky work before undertaking it.

Since 2003 FBA is in charge of planning and coordinating the how the exercise evolvescivilian parts of the training whereas the Swedish Police, the Swedish Armed Forces and the Swedish Defence University are responsible for the other parts.

The training builds on current challenges in real international operations and its content has been adapted accordingly over the years. For the 2018 edition of Viking, FBA identified three areas of focus for the civilian part of the training; leadership in international operations, protection of civilians and the inclusion of women in efforts to promote peace and security.

Frequently asked questions

FBA’s programme for young peacebuilders in Iraq inaugurated

After decades of war, Iraq needs to be rebuilt. Violent protests against the inability of the Iraqi state to provide its citizens with security and basic social services have rocked the country recently. FBA is now starting a programme for young peacebuilders in Iraq, in order to strengthen them in their non-violent efforts for a positive development.

2019-10-28 16:55

IN THE FIELD

Johan Chytraeus

Monitoring officer in Ukraine

Karolina Riedel

Statistician in election observation missions

Adam Bergman

Adviser to the UN in Nigeria

Mimmi Milligan

Reintegration adviser in Geneva

Björn Tedeman

Election observer

Julia Kempny

Political adviser in Somalia

Vanda Dahlbom

Analyst in Iraq

Read our publications

Insights from the Inside: Women’s Mediation Networks as a Tool for Influencing Peace Processes

Civil society-led networks of women have for decades worked hard to promote peace in conflict areas around the world, and lately, a new wave of women's mediation networks are being established that are led by states or regional organizations. All these networks share a collective aim: To promote women's inclusion and influence in mediated peace processes.

Documents

Insights from the Inside.pdf

More Publications

THE FBA BLOG

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Posted by Jessica Rothman
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Exactly ten years had passed since I last worked in Georgia, when I returned for my deployment to the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM), in the country that has a special place in my heart. I arrived with so much curiosity and excitement, wondering how Georgia had developed and recovered after the war in 2008. The first thing that struck me was the condition of the cars, where were all the dilapidated Ladas and Volgas that used ... Read entire post »
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2019-11-26 16:22
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Posted by Kuisma Kinnunen
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As a trainer, what could be better than to be part of a multinational group with a variety of backgrounds, eagerly wanting to learn new skills? Especially when you get to be the course participant for a change.

I had a dual aim when I recently participated in the Gender Perspective in the EU Common Security and Defence Policy Course, organised by FBA under the auspices of the European Security and Defence College. Besides learning new gender ... Read entire post »
2019-10-23 11:27