On 24 and 25 June 2013, the 43rd meeting of the NDC’s Academic Advisory Board (AAB) took place.
The chief purpose of the AAB is to advise the Commandant on ways to improve the academic, research and outreach activities of the College and to enhance links with NATO HQ and Allied Command Transformation (ACT).
The Board is composed of distinguished experts: Gen Knud Bartels (DNK A),Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and Chairman of the Board; Lt Gen Arne Bård Dalhaug (NOR A), NDC Commandant; Ambassador Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (HRV), NATO ASG for Public Diplomacy; Ambassador Robert E. Hunter (USA), Senior Advisor at the RAND Corporation; Vice Admiral Sir Charles Anthony Johnstone-Burt GBR N) CB OBE MA, Chief of Staff of Allied Command Transformation; Maj Gen Gordon B. Davis Jr. (USA A), Assistant Chief of Staff Operations, SHAPE; Brig Gen Gerd Bischof (DEU F), NDC Academic Advisory Board Executive Secretary; Dr Fred Tanner (CHE), Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP); Prof Julian Lindley-French (GBR), Eisenhower Professor of Defence Strategy at the Netherlands Defence Academy; Dr Theresa Sabonis-Helf (USA), Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College in Washington DC; and Mr Sinan Ülgen (TUR), Visiting Scholar at Carnegie Europe.
The Academic Advisory Board plays a fundamental role in support of the NDC’s commitments: it reviews present and future academic programmes, appraises College activities, and ensures that the educational process keeps abreast of the challenges facing the Alliance today and in the future.
A number of different issues were discussed during the meeting, including the Annual Report, the Conference of Commandants and the Kyiv Week. The Board also considered the activities of the NDC’s Research Division and the NATO Regional Cooperation Course, whose ninth edition finished in May.
The Chairman, General Knud Bartels, highlighted the significant role played by the NDC in educating NATO’s future leaders and praised the excellent work the NDC is doing in this field. He emphasized the importance of giving the College as much freedom as possible to fulfill its three-pillar strategic mission: education, outreach and research.
NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Francesca Blasi, ITA C)
NATO Defense College 
