{"id":11432,"date":"2012-12-18T10:07:07","date_gmt":"2012-12-18T09:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/senior-course-121-field-study-iii-baku\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T09:02:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T08:02:06","slug":"senior-course-121-field-study-iii-baku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/senior-course-121-field-study-iii-baku\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior Course 121 Field Study III: Baku"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/121FS3_Baku_3_1.jpg\" alt=\"H.E. Ambassador Pashayev welcomes the NATO Defense College Delegation.\" \/><figcaption>H.E. Ambassador Pashayev welcomes the NATO Defense College Delegation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">Senior Course 121 (SC 121) continued its third Field Study (FS 3) with a visit to the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (ADA) in Baku, on 17th December. <\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">H.E. Ambassador Hafiz Pashayev, Founder and Rector of the Academy, extended a warm welcome to the NATO Defense College (NDC) group, led by NDC Commandant Lieutenant General Arne B\u00e5rd Dalhaug (NOR A). The NDC leadership was also represented by the Dean, Dr Richard D. Hooker (USA C), and by the Director of the Academic Planning and Policy Division, Brigadier General Gerd Bischof (DEU F).<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">In his address, Ambassador Pashayev presented the role of the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy in specialist professional education for diplomats and civil servants with international duties. Deputy Rector Mr Fariz Ismayilzade then provided an extensive overview of the ADA\u2019s courses, which are taught at the School of Public and International Affairs, the School of Business, and the School of Humanities and Sciences. A total of 289 students are currently enrolled. Proud of its global vocation and its committed approach to development of mutual understanding, the ADA recruits both academic staff and students internationally. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has visited the Academy as a guest lecturer, as have several high-level speakers from the Russian Federation. <\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">H.E. Araz <a class='photo' href='\/images\/121FS3_Baku_1_2.jpg' rel='lightbox' title= ' H.E. Araz Azimov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs '>Azimov<\/a>, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, was the second speaker of the day. Having addressed the NDC in Rome early last year as a guest lecturer, Mr Azimov was particularly appreciative of SC 121\u2019s visit to Baku and of the opportunity for Course Members to learn more about Azerbaijan\u2019s international relations. Underlining the importance of continuing engagement with partners in the field of education as a mainstay of dialogue, he thought it sensible for NATO to focus more on development of specific bilateral partnerships than on enlargement true and proper. Mr Azimov spoke of the Azerbaijani non-alignment policy in a broad Eurasian security perspective, against a background of growing concern about possible regional instability following the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014. In this respect, it should be noted that Azerbaijan\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made provision for NATO to use Azerbaijani transit routes and infrastructure as part of the necessary arrangements for withdrawal. A positive corollary of this agreement is that it provides a stimulus for the country to upgrade major roads and harbours on the Caspian Sea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">The following speaker was Major General Najaf <a class='photo' href='\/images\/121FS3_Baku_2_2.jpg' rel='lightbox' title= 'Maj Gen Najaf Gambarov, Comandant of the Armed Forces War College '>Gambarov<\/a>, Commandant of the Armed Forces War College, who acknowledged the NDC\u2019s contribution to the education of Azerbaijani officers and diplomats. On the subject of military education and training, MajGen Gambarov mentioned Azerbaijan\u2019s cooperation with a number of international partners. He also illustrated the structure and academic activities of the National War College, which educates officers according to NATO programmes so that Azerbaijani troops can be trained to the highest standards and maximize interoperability with NATO forces. The speaker then commented on Azerbaijan\u2019s significant defence reforms, as well as its contribution to international missions such as ISAF and KFOR. Military cooperation with other countries is increasingly a priority, as indicated by the growing number of military attach\u00e9s at Azerbaijan\u2019s embassies in various parts of the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">After this, Lieutenant Colonel Shahin Rzayev from the Ministry of National Security gave a briefing on modern security challenges. Building on lessons learned from the experience of Azerbaijan\u2019s special services, the speaker identified a number of particularly significant current threats: aggressive separatist movements, international terrorism and religious extremism. LtCol Rzayev listed recent terrorist attacks experienced by Azerbaijan and referred to several known terrorist groups, before concluding with some remarks about the ongoing development of specific legislation to counter terrorism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">The day\u2019s intense and rewarding agenda was completed by Mr Vilayat Valiyev of the Ministry of Economic Development, who is Director of the Institute for Scientific Research on Economic Reforms. He provided an authoritative overview of the Azerbaijani economic system, highlighting the achievements of recent decades and the substantial investments in strategic infrastructure. Significant results of these investments include pipelines from Baku to a number of cities and harbours in Georgia and T\u00fcrkiye, as well as the state-of-the-art Sangachal oil terminal near Baku. Such assets enable Azerbaijan to satisfy 1% of the European demand for oil, and have contributed to the rise in per capita income which the country has achieved in recent years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"FooterSignature\" >LtCol. Alberto Alletto, Chief Public Affairs and Protocol Officer, ITA-A<\/p>\n<div class='np'>\n<p class='just'>\n<br \/>More about the Field Study:<\/p>\n<p><span style='padding-left:25px;'><a href='\/fr\/news\/current_news.php\/?icode=477' target='_blank'>Start &#8211; Civitavecchia<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style='padding-left:25px;'><a href='\/fr\/news\/current_news.php\/?icode=478' target='_blank'>First stop &#8211; Skopje<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style='padding-left:25px;'><a href='\/fr\/news\/current_news.php\/?icode=479' target='_blank'>Second leg &#8211; Ankara<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>H.E. Ambassador Pashayev welcomes the NATO Defense College Delegation. Senior Course 121 (SC 121) continued its third Field<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"post_badge":[],"class_list":["post-11432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"NDC","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/author\/admin_3rwqf6tj\/"},"modified_by":null,"author_meta":{"display_name":"NDC","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/author\/admin_3rwqf6tj\/"},"featured_img":null,"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","trp-custom-language-flag":"","morenews-featured":"","morenews-large":"","morenews-medium":""},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/category\/news\/\" rel=\"category tag\">News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":0,"coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/category\/news\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">News<\/span>"]}},"relative_dates":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 14 ans il y a","modified":"Mis \u00e0 jour 6 mois il y a"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 le d\u00e9cembre 18, 2012","modified":"Mise \u00e0 jour le janvier 15, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 le d\u00e9cembre 18, 2012 10:07","modified":"Mise \u00e0 jour le janvier 15, 2026 09:02"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11432"},{"taxonomy":"post_badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_badge?post=11432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}