The Halifax International Security Forum comes only two weeks before NATO leaders are scheduled meet in Lisbon to discuss the future of the defense organization and missile defense.

The Halifax forum "will look at international security from a number of different angles," said Will Bohlen, spokesman for the German Marshall Fund, which organized the event.

"Traditional topics will include NATO, nuclear weapons, and that sort of thing, but we'll also touch on soft power issues such as the defense response to humanitarian crises; this is a new topic that we're dealing with this year," he told AFP.

"We're taking a holistic view of security and defense, and aiming to get a robust debate going on all of the security topics from all different viewpoints: military, politics, business, and academia."

Canada's Defense Minister Peter MacKay will kick off the summit with an opening address on Friday.

Panelists include Canada's central bank governor Mark Carney, Denmark's Minister of Defense Gitte Lillelund Bech, US Senator John McCain, US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Supreme Allied Commander for NATO transformation Stephane Abrial, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and Palestinian Economic Council Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh.

They will be joined by representatives from Afghanistan, Albania, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Serbia, South Korea, Spain and Turkey -- including government officials, journalists, academics and others.

Carney, who will speak on panel titled "Forward Defense Revisited," is likely to touch on "how currency policies and development aid impact trouble spots in the world," Bohlen said.

Others will discuss state building, the future of NATO beyond Afghanistan, and ways of securing new frontiers such as cyberspace and the airways.

Bohlen said that observers are keen to learn more about NATO's plans for Afghanistan and the consequences of the "Americanization" of the war, as well as the risks of Washington's support for efforts by Kabul to hold peace talks with the Taliban.

One of the most anticipated discussions -- because it is "rarely talked about by defense officials," said Bohlen -- will be on emergency humanitarian responses and how these affect global security.

"The goal of the conference is to get people together who don't normally have an opportunity to talk with each other on a regular basis," Bohlen said.

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