On 2 May 2013 participants attending the ninth NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC 9) at the NATO Defense College (NDC) visited the Italian Centre for Higher Defence Studies – Centro Alti Studi per la Difesa (CASD) in Rome.
The NDC delegation, accompanied by NRCC Director Col Morabito, was welcomed to the CASD by Brig Gen Cutropia.
After Course Members had visited the Centre’s premises in the fine historic setting of Palazzo Salviati, they were addressed by Admiral Rinaldo Veri, President of the CASD.
The visit to the Centre afforded Course Members the opportunity to attend two briefings. The first, provided by the Italian Institute for Higher Defence Studies (Istituto Alti Studi per la Difesa – IASD) and the Joint Services Staff College (Istituto di Stato Maggiore Interforze – ISSMI), covered the history, the structure and the mission of the CASD. Founded in 1949 as a vocational training centre, the Centre later specialized in training high-ranking Officers of the Italian Armed Forces and in research on topics related to the organization of national defence. The second lecturer of the day was Adm Me, who provided an exhaustive presentation of the “5+5 Initiative” created in 2004. This Initiative is based on a Declaration of Intent signed by the Ministers of Defence of Algeria, Spain, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Mauritania, Portugal and Tunisia: its aim is to develop multilateral co-operation through practical activities, with the overarching objective of contributing to solutions for common security and defence concerns in the Western Mediterranean.
In the afternoon NRCC 9 Course Members had the opportunity to attend a briefing on Italian foreign policy and defence, entitled “Italy in the Gulf and in the multilateral forum of the Mediterranean Dialogue”. The speaker was Minister Plenipotentiary Queirolo Palmas, from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Francesca Blasi, ITA C)
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN