51st NDC Academic Advisory Board (AAB)

On 20 and 21 January 2022, the Academic Advisory Board (AAB) met at the NATO Defense College for discussions and to provide advice to the NDC leadership.

The AAB is chaired by the Chair of the Military Committee and consists of senior representatives from NATO HQ, ACT and ACO, and a group of external members representing military, academic, scientific and diplomatic institutions. The Board was composed of Admiral Rob Bauer, Vice Admiral Guy Robinson, Ambassador Baiba Braže, Major General Karol Dymanowski, Major General Francesco Diella, Mr Dirk Dubois, Dr Bernard Finel, Dr Pierre Razoux, Professor Raffaele Marchetti, and Dr Helen Dexter. The delegation from the NATO Defense College was led by the Commandant, Lieutenant General Olivier Rittimann, accompanied by heads of divisions and other senior figures of the College.

Chairing his first AAB, Admiral Rob Bauer cited the importance of the College throughout NATO’s history “it has provided a singular forum to question established allied concepts, examine strategy and challenge leaders to scrutinize our thinking and our decisions”.

The purpose of the AAB is to review matters related to the NDC’s academic programmes and curricula, to advise the Commandant on ways to proceed with academic, research and outreach activities, and to submit recommendations to the Military Committee for improving and enhancing College operations and activities.

After useful discussions, some of the Board’s recommendations for this year focused on a continued adjustment of the curriculum to new challenges; developing an understanding of the complexity of future wars; with regard to engagement, possibilities for greater collaboration with the IMS should be explored and life-long learning potential should be a guiding principle for any further development of an Alumni network. On the research side, the Board praised the work done on publications and recommended exploring new cooperation possibilities with other centres.

NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Laura Garcia Pesquera, ESP C)