As the last academic event of Senior Course 113, the NDC conducted a Crisis Management Exercise/ Negotiation, Mediation and Decision-Making Exercise (CMX/NMDX).
The exercise was preceded by scene-setting lectures designed to provide practical assistance to the Course Members.
The exercise was preceded by scene-setting lectures designed to provide practical assistance to the Course Members.
Firstly Dr Bernd Goetze, former Secretary of the North Atlantic Council (NAC), gave a presentation on NATO’s approach to crisis management, with a special focus on the role of the NAC.
He was followed by Mr Ilay Ferrier, from the Planning Directorate of the Operations Division at NATO HQ, who explained the functioning of NATOs Crisis Response System and the roles of the different bodies involved, and stressed the importance of the emerging Comprehensive Approach.
The next lecture, delivered by Gen (ret.) Harald Kujat, former Chairman of the Military Committee (MC), concerned the role and functioning of the Military Committee in a crisis situation. Course Members, especially those who played the MC during the exercise, benefited greatly from his informative insights.
In the afternoon, Mr Anthony Cragg, former Assistant Secretary General for Defence Planning and Operations, talked about practical approaches to conducting and participating in multilateral international negotiations, and outlined some of the options available to NATO in seeking to influence the development of a crisis.
During the exercise, the Course Members represented members of several senior NATO committees, including the Political Committee, the Policy Coordination Group and the North Atlantic Council. Individual Course Members were assigned to act either in official positions on those committees, including taking the role of the Secretary General and the Chairman of the Military Committee, or as Representatives of individual NATO Nations, including as Permanent Representatives in the NAC.
The exercise scenario was a generic one, set in the fictitious Island State of Raleigh, whose government had asked NATO for support and assistance in dealing with an emerging threat from an international terrorist organization based on the island. The Course Members participated in a simulation of the various stages of the NATO Crisis Response System and practised negotiation, mediation and decision-making techniques.
They learned about group dynamics in a multinational negotiation process and were subjected to a complex process of multilateral consensus building in finding a common course of action. The senior committees of NATO and the North Atlantic Council provided the ideal framework for this exercise, reflecting the strategic political-military level at which the Senior Course is focused. Course Members in the role of NATO Secretary General and Spokesman also experienced what it is like to be “grilled” by the media and saw the results in the form of video clips and press articles.
Throughout the exercise, Dr Goetze, Mr Cragg and Gen. (ret) Kujat acted as Senior Mentors, giving valuable advice and feedback to the Course Members. The CMX/NMDX proved, as always, to be an academically challenging and enjoyable conclusion to the academic programme of Senior Course 113.
Prepared by Col. Molnar (HUN A)
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN