The 2nd week of this Study Period addressing NATO in Transformation ran from Monday 30th March to Friday 3 April. In addition to members of the Senior Course, the Study Period was attended by participants in the NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC), Integrated Partner Orientation Course (IPOC) and Modular Short Course (MSC). The academic programme comprised lectures dealing with NATO’s Current Operations, NATO’s partnership initiatives and the Future of NATO.
Continuing our examination of the strategic challenges posed by current NATO operations, the week began with short presentations by two Senior Course Members based on their recent operational experience in Afghanistan. On the same day, the College was privileged to receive the visit of Admiral Mark FITZGERALD, Commander Allied Joint Force Command Naples (JFC Naples) and Commander U.S. Naval Forces, Europe (COMUSNAVEUR), who spoke about the challenges of the current and recent operations for which he is responsible, including in Kosovo, the Mediterranean, off the Horn of Africa, and the NATO training mission in Iraq.
On Tuesday 31st March a series of lectures on NATO partnership initiatives was launched by Prof. Carlo MASALA, of the International Relations University of the German Armed Forces, speaking on Partnership for Peace. Prof. Viktor KREMENYUK, from the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, then discussed in more detail NATO relations with Russia, and the day’s programme concluded with a presentation on NATO-Ukraine relations from Mr. James SHERR from the Royal Institute of International affairs. All three speakers examined the development of these partnerships, the current state of the relationships, and the prospects for future developments
The same approach was taken on Thursday 2 nd April by Dr. Alberto BIN, Head of the Regional Affairs Section at NATO HQ, and Prof. Bichara KHADER, Director of the Arab Study and Research Center of the University of Louvain, who gave presentations, from their different academic and professional backgrounds, covering the Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.
In between these two sessions, Course Members had the opportunity to take a break from the academic programme, and take advantage of the cultural and religious heritage of the city of Rome, with the chance to attend an audience with his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, followed by a guided tour of the collections of the Vatican Museums.
The Study Period concluded with a lecture looking at the prospects for the future development of NATO – a very appropriate topic for the day which saw the opening of NATO’s “60 th Birthday Summit”. The lecture was delivered by Mr. Michael RÜHLE, Head of Speechwriting and Senior Policy Advisor in the Policy Planning Unit within the Private Office of the NATO Secretary General. His lecture brought together many of the topics and themes from the previous lectures, providing a most fitting way to round off the Study Period.
Prepared by Mr Gavin Kitchingham (GBR C)
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN