{"id":11542,"date":"2013-05-10T13:11:55","date_gmt":"2013-05-10T12:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/the-ndc-successfully-concluded-the-generals-flag-officers-and-ambassadors-course-2013-1-gfoac\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T09:04:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T08:04:20","slug":"the-ndc-successfully-concluded-the-generals-flag-officers-and-ambassadors-course-2013-1-gfoac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/the-ndc-successfully-concluded-the-generals-flag-officers-and-ambassadors-course-2013-1-gfoac\/","title":{"rendered":"The NDC successfully concluded the Generals, Flag Officers and Ambassadors’ Course 2013-1 (GFOAC)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mr.
Mr. Staffan de Mistura addresses participants to the GFOAC 2013-1.(Photo) Mr Staffan de Mistura (ITA\/SWE) and NDC Faculty Adviser, Col Stuart MacRostie (GBR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The Generals, Flag Officers and Ambassadors’ Course 2013-1 (GFOAC) took place at the NATO Defense College (NDC) from 6 to 10 May 2013. Entitled \u201cLeading NATO into the Future\u201d, the course was attended by a total of 49 ambassadors, generals, admirals, civilians and diplomats. Participants included representatives from NATO, the Partnership for Peace (PfP), the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI), as well as Global Partners and the People\u2019s Republic of China. <\/p>\n

In his welcoming remarks on Monday morning, Brig. Gen. Gerd Bischof (DEU F), GFOAC Course Director and Director of Academic Plans and Policy at the NDC, highlighted both the Course\u2019s objectives and the opportunities that it offers.<\/p>\n

The opening lecture was provided by Prof. Christopher Coker (GBR), who offered a detailed and thought-provoking focus on \u201cCultural Dialogue: the Western Encounter with the Rest\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cNATO after Chicago\u201d was the topic of the afternoon lecture, delivered by Dr. Karl-Heinz Kamp (DEU), Director of the Research Division of the NDC. Dr. Kamp gave an excellent overview of the various challenges facing the Alliance in a post-Chicago perspective, setting the scene for a most interesting and comprehensive Q&A session. <\/p>\n

On Tuesday 7 May GFOAC Course Members had the opportunity to enjoy two interesting lectures entitled \u201cThe Transatlantic Link: the Cornerstone of the Alliance\u201d. The speakers were H.E. Mr. Robert E. Hunter (USA) and Prof. Carlo Masala (DEU), who briefed the audience on possible future challenges for the Alliance, highlighting that the Transatlantic Link is indispensable for both sides of the Atlantic. In the afternoon, there was a challenging lecture on \u201cThe Changing Character of Warfare\u201d, by Thomas X. Hammes (USA).<\/p>\n

On Wednesday 8 May, two vibrant and fundamental topics for the Alliance and its partners were addressed. In the morning, Prof. Fawaz A. Gerges (USA) and Prof. Mustapha Benchenane (FRA) spoke about \u201cThe Middle East and North Africa\u201d. The focus then shifted to Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a lecture entitled \u201cStrategic Crossroads – Afghanistan & Pakistan\u201d by Dr. Samina Ahmed (PAK) and an early evening satellite videoconference with Gen. Joseph F. Dunford (USA) on \u201cThe Strategic Challenge of NATO\u2019s Operation in Afghanistan\u201d. <\/p>\n

The programme for Thursday 8 May offered a fascinating combination of topics: \u201cTechnological Development: Risks and Opportunities\u201d, addressed by Prof. Holger Mey (DEU), and \u201cThe Strategic Implications of China\u2019s rise to Power\u201d, on which Dr. James Boutilier (CAN) lectured in the afternoon. <\/p>\n

On the last day of the course, the focus was on \u201cInsurgencies and Small Wars\u201d and \u201cOpportunity from Crisis\u201d, analysed by Dr. David Kilcullen (AUS) and Mr. Staffan de Mistura (ITA\/SWE) respectively. The audience for the second of these presentations included Course Members from the NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC), for whom this was the final lecture prior to their graduation ceremony. <\/p>\n

In his closing remarks, Brig. Gen. Bischof summarized key messages from the week\u2019s lectures and discussions, thanking participants for their active contribution to the interest generated by the GFOAC – a course which is proving exceptionally relevant to high-level participants from an ever-increasing number of countries.<\/p>\n

NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Francesca Blasi, ITA C)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mr. Staffan de Mistura addresses participants to the GFOAC 2013-1.(Photo) Mr Staffan de Mistura (ITA\/SWE) and NDC Faculty<\/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-11542","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":"News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":0,"coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]}},"relative_dates":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 13 ans il y a","modified":"Mis \u00e0 jour 6 mois il y a"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 le mai 10, 2013","modified":"Mise \u00e0 jour le janvier 15, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 le mai 10, 2013 13:11","modified":"Mise \u00e0 jour le janvier 15, 2026 09:04"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11542","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=11542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11542"},{"taxonomy":"post_badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_badge?post=11542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}