On 28th June 2013, the NATO Defense College (NDC) hosted the closing ceremony to mark the conclusion of the second Senior Executive Regional Conference (SERC 2). The Course was attended by a high-profile group of diplomats, senior officials, policy planners and researchers, from NATO members states and from the Alliance’s partner countries in the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf region.
Participants successfully engaged in an intensive week of study and lectures on strategic issues of great contemporary relevance to the security of the countries represented. This ambitious programme offered a forum of outstanding quality for discussion of major strategic concerns, focusing on shifting trends at both the regional and the global level.
During the week, participants were addressed by a number of eminent and authoritative speakers. They are listed here, in chronological order: General Knud Bartels (DNK A), Chairman of the NATO Military Committee; General Eric Bonnemaison, Deputy Director at the Directorate for Strategic Affairs of the French Ministry of Defence; General Mohamed el Hassan Ould Abdel Haye, Chief Of Defence of Mauritania; Lt Gen Simon Vincent Mayall, Middle East Adviser at the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence; HE Dr Sameh Aboul Enein, formerly Head of the Political Section and Counselor for Disarmament at the Permanent Mission of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the UN; Dr Jaroslaw Skonieczka, Director of the Euro-Atlantic Integration, Partnerships and Cooperation Directorate, NATO Headquarters; HE Sheikh Thamer Ali Al-Sabah, Vice President of the National Security Bureau of Kuwait; and General (ret.) John Allen (USA A), former Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A).
On the last morning of the Course, a keynote speech entitled “Italian Defence Posture in Future Strategic Scenarios” was given by guest of honour Admiral Luigi Binelli Mantelli, Chief of the Italian Defence General Staff. This was followed by a challenging discussion session with the speaker.
In his closing remarks, NDC Commandant LtGen Arne Bård Dalhaug (NOR A) dwelt on the importance of this Course as a major contribution to the College’s cooperation with the Alliance’s partner countries in the Mediterranean and Gulf region.
More about the SERC:
Inauguration of the Senior Executive Regional Conference 2
NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Francesca Blasi, ITA C)
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN 
