On 10th October, before leaving Washington DC, Senior Course 133 moved to the US Marine Corps Barracks at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall and received a number of briefings.
The first speaker was RADM (ret) Dr Roberto Pereyra Bordón, Senior Professor at the Inter-American College in Washington, who gave a lecture entitled “A perspective on Latin America”.
The lecture covered the multidimensional security environment in Latin America. Different models were used to explain the relationship between defence and security in the various Central and South American countries. The second part of the briefing focused on the different security challenges in the region. Dr Bordón pointed out that poverty and inequality play a very important role in the development of insecurity in the region.
Mr Herbert F. Curry Arceo, Senior Consultant, World Bank Group, then took the floor to illustrate the role of the World Bank in the international system, describing the evolution of the organization over the last seventy years and giving details of how it works with national governments. The WB’s ‘twin goals’ of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity by 2030 were discussed.
The WB has 16,000 staff, working in 127 country offices which help to promote dialogue at the political and economic level. Course Members were particularly interested to learn how the WB helps to establish resilience, a topic associated with SC 133 Study Project Topics.
The third and last briefing was by Ms Analisa R Bala, Board Operations Officer at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2014. She spoke about the IMF, explaining its origins and its current status as a global organization with 189 members (2,600 staff from 150 countries). The mission and priorities of the IMF were described, as were the possible effects that could be created by any escalation of current trade tensions.
The multidisciplinary briefings and ensuing Q&As considerably enhanced the Senior Course’s perspective on the contemporary security environment.
NDC Public Affairs Office
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN