On 20th February 2014, a group of 22 Course Members and Staff from the Paris-based Centre des Hautes Études du Ministère de l’Intérieur (CHEMI) visited the NATO Defense College (NDC). The delegation was welcomed by Brigadier General Patrick DESJARDINS (FRA F), Director of Academic Operations (DAO), and by Colonel Erick LANDES (FRA A), French Senior National Representative.
CHEMI, which is the French Ministry of the Interior’s Centre for Advanced Studies, provides a high-level one-year course attended by OF5-6 officers and equivalent-level civilians from the national Police, Gendarmerie and Territorial Administration, as well as by selected participants from other countries.
The aim of the yearly visits to the NATO Defense College by groups from CHEMI is to gain a general overview of the activities and organization of the College. This year’s delegation was led by M. le Préfet PERRET and by the Director of the CHEMI, M. le Préfet JASPERS. Current CHEMI Course Members participating in the visit come not only from France, but also from Algeria and Spain.
Following an informative briefing on the NDC by the DAO, the visitors were given a presentation by NDC researchers: Dr Guillaume LASCONJARIAS (FRA C), NDC Research Division, who gave a presentation on NATO current issues, and Dr Jean-Loup SAMAAN (FRA C), Faculty Advisor at the NDC Middle East Faculty, who spoke about the situation in the Middle East. Both presentations were concluded by a lively Q&A session and debate.
NDC Public Affairs Office
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN