On 16 March 2022, Senior Course 140 attended the third day of Field Study 1, and virtually travelled to France. All the briefings addressed France’s vision of NATO and current challenges.
The day began with welcome remarks by Lieutenant General Olivier Rittimann, NATO Defense College Commandant. Lieutenant General De Rancourt, Deputy Director General for International Relations and Strategy (DGRIS) outlined the main security threats the West is facing and the importance of unity in the Alliance. He emphasized that “our greatest strength is our unity, but it is also what is most at stake in the coming years.”
The next presentation centered on the France’s vision of NATO, delivered by Captain Philippe Schegg, head of the NATO bureau within the French Ministry General Directorate of International Relations and Strategy. The Captain also reiterated the importance of unity among NATO member countries and the need to “build a European security architecture based on mutual trust” and emphasized France’s commitment to the VJTF and its response to the Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Mathieu Droin, from the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, talked about the French vision of multilateralism, coherence and synergy between NATO and EU. Member of Parliament Philippe Michel-Kleisbauer, then gave a presentation on the role of Parliament in matters of defence policy and in particular underlined its oversight role of military operations and budgets.
The next session on “French Operations” was delivered by Colonel Richard Ringuet, head of the NATO bureau within the Military International Relations branch. The last session included an overview of France’s Strategic Update on Future Conflicts and Environments, given by Mr. Marc Robert from the DGRIS. The session concluded with an overview on the work of the Red Team in Strategic Foresight, by Colonel David Pappalardo.
Each presentation was followed by a Q&A session. The day concluded with closing remarks by a member of Committee 4.
NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Sofia Carvalheiro, PRT C)
NATO Defense College