On April 29, Alyson Bailes, former director of SIPRI died. The IFSH had been lucky in the past to benefit from her profound knowledge of European peace and security policy, which she had acquired first during her career as British diplomat and later as an academic, through her participation in study groups and as co-author of reports. She also spoke on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the IFSH in 2011. The debate over European security has lost an important voice and the IFSH a friend.
For an obituary see http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/02/alyson-bailes-obituary.