On 4th March 2013, the NATO Defense College (NDC) in Rome inaugurated the ninth NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC 9).
A major outreach activity organized by the NDC’s Middle East Faculty, this course is primarily addressed to NATO partners within the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI).
The NRCC was launched in 2009, in response to the emphasis which the Alliance’s Riga Summit and Bucharest Summit placed on closer educational cooperation with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The aim of the NRCC is to promote better understanding of global and regional security issues, relevant not only to NATO but to the MENA region generally.
Against this background, the course is addressed to senior officers and officials from NATO, MD and ICI nations, offering them a unique opportunity to participate in a high-level working group focusing on strategic topics.
The opening week of NRCC 9 will address the subject of perceptions and prejudices in international relations. Other major topics in the weeks ahead will be the MENA region’s stability and security, its strategic challenges, and the key role played by regional and international organizations in this respect.
Some lectures will be given in conjunction with Senior Course (SC) 122. This will allow a clear focus on the present and future of NATO, with a practical perspective on how it adapts in response to contemporary threats and challenges through initiatives like Smart Defence.
Overall, the NRCC affords detailed, strategic-level insight into security questions. The topics covered are relevant to the transatlantic community and the MENA region, with important implications for the broader international community too.
NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Francesca Blasi, ITA C)
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN