The Field Study programme of Senior Course 124 continued with a visit to London, where the group arrived on 27th March. The Course Members were welcomed by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Sir Nicholas Houghton, at a reception in the Memorial Courtyard of the Ministry of Defence. General Houghton provided his perspective on the current security situation in Europe and on the importance of NATO in meeting the challenges of the future.
On the following day, SC124 attended a series of briefings at the MoD, beginning with an overview of British defence policy and Britain’s role within NATO given by Vincent Devine, Director Operational Policy at the MoD. He emphasised the importance of NATO for collective security, multinational capability development and as a preferred command and control model for multinational operations.
Mr Paul Wyatt, Deputy Director of Defence Strategy and Priorities provided an interesting summary of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review findings and conclusions. He indicated that the focus of UK defence and security policy was to contribute to international stability whilst maintaining an effective fighting force for interventions in crisis. He also outlined the current effort to update Defense policy by the time of the general election in May 2015, leading up to a full Security and Defence Review in the latter half of 2015.
The next speaker was Mr David Prodger, Deputy Head Security Policy Development in the Foreign Commonwealth Office, who lectured on British Foreign Policy and European Security and Defence. He emphasised the importance of multinational relationships and the need to act together in responding to crises. However, he pointed out that while consensus-based decision-making is critically important both within NATO and the EU in order to legitimize interventions, it is essential that decisions to intervene are taken in a timely and responsive manner.
Mrs Alison Stevenson, Head of NATO and Europe Policy at the Ministry of Defence, also discussed relations between NATO and the European Union. As the next NATO Summit will be held in the United Kingdom in 2014, she provided Course Members with a list of issues that may be on the Summit Agenda. She also detailed a number of emerging security challenges on which NATO should be focussing its attention-.
Finally, Mrs Emily Travis, Head, Whitehall and National Security Team from the Conflict, Humanitarian and Security Department (CHASE), in the Department for International Development, provided a brief on the organization’s programmes and initiatives to improve health, reduce poverty and foster sustainable development in the world.
The session ended with a lively Q&A session, with Brigadier Tim Bevis, Head Operations Military, and Wing Commander Stephen Larry, Head Operations UK, from the Operations Directorate, joining the morning’s speakers. Questions focussed on a broad range of issues currently faced by UK foreign affairs and defence organizations.
In the afternoon, the Senior Course was privileged to visit the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) where the Course was welcomed by James Hackett, Editor, of The Military Balance. Then, Course Members heard from Nigel Inkster, Director for Transnational Threats and Political risk, who outlined the broad range of risks and threats that currently exist including terrorism and cyber security. The last speaker was Ms Dina Esfandiary, Research Associate, Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Programme, who spoke about the Iranian nuclear deal and the risks associated with WMDs in the Middle Eastern region.
After an excellent professional programme and a well-earned day of rest, SC 124 moves to Paris on Sunday, 30th March.
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