The last station of the Commandant’s tour of the Middle East region was to Jordan. This was the second visit of the Commandant to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan within a year and highlights the importance the NATO Defense College attaches to cooperation with the Kingdom.
On 26 January, the official programme started with an exchange of views between the Commandant, Lieutenant General Wolf-Dieter Loeser, and Ambassador Dr Omar Rifai, President of the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy. Both discussed ways of strengthening the already intense and excellent cooperation between the Government of Jordan, the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy (JID) and the NATO Defense College in Rome, including through having diplomats attend one of the next NATO Regional Cooperation Courses (NRCCs) in Rome. The cooperation between the NDC and the JID is intense and has seen a range of high-level activities, which included the visit of Dr Omar Rifai to Rome in September of last year to be the Inauguration Speaker of the Fourth NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC) and also his nomination to the NRCC Academic Advisory Board, representing Jordan.
This meeting was followed by a Speech of the Commandant on “NATO and the Middle East after the Lisbon Summit: Implications from the new Strategic Concept”. The speech was organised by the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy and was attended by dignitaries and officials from Jordan and the diplomatic community in Jordan.
In his speech, General Loeser recalled the words of NATO Secretary General saying that if one desires peace, one must work for it. The Commandant continued his address by stressing that “working for peace also means to focus on education and joint training among officials and officers who have different cultural backgrounds and different perceptions and sometimes misperceptions about each other.” General Loser therefore argued that we need to overcome these misperceptions and changing of perceptions is an important purpose of our cooperation; and that changing perceptions is a precondition for effective and mutually beneficial military cooperation.
On 27 January, the Commandant attended a Roundtable discussion, organised by the Middle East Scientific Institute for Security (MESIS) under the patronage of HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal. The roundtable was organised by the President of MESIS, HRH Nasser bin Nasser and was attended by officials from the Jordan Armed Forces, Jordanian diplomats and academics as well as representatives from various diplomatic missions in Amman. The discussion focused on NATO’s emerging role in the Middle East and how NATO could contribute further to bringing stability to the region. Based on NATO’s new Strategic Concept questioned emerged during the discussion as to whether NATO’s approach to partnerships and security remained geographic and how NATO would counter soft security threats emanating from the Middle East. Similarly, the roundtable discussion, which was chaired by retired General Khalid Marashoud, touched on the topic of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and how NATO could work more effectively with partners from the Middle East towards stability in Afghanistan.
The Commandant and his accompanying delegation also had a meeting with HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal at the Royal Palace during which the Commandant thanked HRH warmly for his visit to the College last November and his Keynote Address to the course members of NRCC-4 and SC 117. The Commandant and HRH Prince El Hassan agreed to pursue their cooperation and the General Loeser invited HRH Prince El Hassan to be the graduation speaker for the next NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC) in May of this year. The Commandant also invited HRH Prince Rashid bin Hassan to attend one of the next Senior Courses at the NDC and expressed his hope to organise a field study of the NDC to Jordan in the near future. HRH Prince El Hassan commended the Commandant for his efforts in advancing joint education with the countries from the Middle East and the Gulf region through the NDC’s new Middle East Faculty and assured him of his continued support in these very important efforts.
Overall, the trip of the Commandant and his delegation to the Middle East to Jordan can be considered a most successful and enriching experience which offers promising results with regard to areas of future co-operations.
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NATO Defense College 
