On Friday 14 March 2014, the NATO Defense College (NDC) was honoured to host two distinguished speakers at its Middle East Faculty (MEF): Col V. Roué (FRA M), the current Chief of the Third Divisional Headquarters in Marseille, and the Hon. Mohamed Omar Mohamud (SOM C), Secretary of the Somali Committee for Parliamentary Regulation and Discipline. Both speakers gave stimulating presentations about State Stability. These lectures were addressed to the eleventh NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC 11), which is run by the MEF under the leadership of Col G. Morabito (ITA A).
The lectures gave an in-depth analysis of the critical role played by state stability in the structure of the entire international system, dwelling on the main concerns of international security policy. The first talk, by Col Roué, focused on the European Union Training Mission in Mali, while Mr Mohamud spoke about recent domestic developments in Somalia.
Col Roué has been deployed for operational purposes in many African countries, but also in the Pacific Ocean, Bosnia and Afghanistan. He has been assigned to several Marine Infantry battalions in France, the Indian Ocean and the West Indies, acquiring considerable operational experience. More recently, he became Chief of the European Core Planning Group for the European Training Mission in Mali, for which he was deployed in Bamako as the first Chief of Staff.
Mr Mohamud attended the Military Academy of Modena from 1978 to 1980 and then began his military career in the Somali National Army. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1990 and participated in the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). In 1994 he entered politics and, on 13 August 2000, he was elected to the Transitional Parliament of Somalia (TNG-ARTA). In 2010 he participated in a study mission to Washington DC. Two years later, he was elected to the Federal Parliament of Somalia. Since 10 March 2013 he has been Secretary of the Committee for Parliamentary Regulation and Discipline.
NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Valentina Ferrandu, ITA C)
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN