From 9 to 13 May 2016, the NATO Defense College held the Generals, Flag Officers and Ambassadors\u2019 Course (GFOAC 2016-1). On this occasion, 38 high-level civilian and military participants from NATO, the Partnership for Peace (PfP), the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD), the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) and Global Partner countries gathered for this year\u2019s course entitled \u201cNATO in the light of the Warsaw Summit\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Monday morning, the Head of the NDC Academic Planning and Policy Division, BrigGen Heinz-Josef Feldmann (DEU A), gave an introduction to the Course with details provided by Col Erick Landes (FRA A). The Dean of the NDC, Dr Daria Daniels Skodnik (SVN C), gave the welcoming remarks. Prof Christopher Coker (GBR) delivered the opening lecture, in which he addressed \u201cCultural Dialogue: the Western Encounter with the Rest\u201d. The topic of the afternoon lectures by Ambassador Robert E. Hunter (USA) and Prof Dr Rob De Wijk (NLD) was \u201cThe Transatlantic Link: the Cornerstone of the Alliance\u201d.<\/p>\n
On the following day, GFOAC Course Members heard two interesting lectures: \u201cThe Security Implications of the Rise of China\u201d, by Prof Jonathan Holslag (BEL); and \u201cThe Future of NATO\u201d, by Mr Michael R\u00fchle (DEU). Mr R\u00fchle defined NATO as \u201cthe Transatlantic Learning Community\u201d and explained its ability to learn and evolve in parallel with the challenges it faces. Each of the lectures was followed by a plenary discussion.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday 11 May, participants were briefed by Prof A. Fawas Gerges (LBN\/USA) and by Prof Mustapha Benchenane (FRA), who spoke about \u201cThe Middle East and North Africa\u201d. The final lecture of the day was given by Prof Dr Gunnar Heinsohn (DEU), who focused on the \u201cSecurity Implications of Demographic Trends\u201d.<\/p>\n
The programme for the next day offered topical and stimulating presentations on issues that are at the centre of the Alliance\u2019s agenda. Prof Aurel Braun (CAN) and Dr Heidi Reisinger (DEU) provided valuable insights on \u201cRussia, NATO and the Crises in Ukraine and in Syria\u201d. During the final lecture of the day, Prof Dr Holger MEY (DEU) examined \u201cTechnological Development: Risks and Opportunities\u201d.<\/p>\n
On the last day of the Course, Mr Camille Grand (FRA) gave a talk on \u201cThe Future of Conflicts and its Implications\u201d. <\/p>\n
Before awarding Course Members their diplomas, in his concluding remarks, BrigGen Feldmann summarized key messages from the week\u2019s lectures and discussions, thanking participants for their contributions to the GFOAC, which once again has enhanced the understanding of current politico-military issues within the Alliance and among its partners.<\/p>\n
NDC Public Affairs Office From 9 to 13 May 2016, the NATO Defense College held the Generals, Flag Officers and Ambassadors\u2019 Course<\/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-12257","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 10 ans il y a","modified":"Mis \u00e0 jour 6 mois il y a"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 le mai 15, 2016","modified":"Mise \u00e0 jour le janvier 15, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 le mai 15, 2016 18:00","modified":"Mise \u00e0 jour le janvier 15, 2026 09:15"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12257","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=12257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12257\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12257"},{"taxonomy":"post_badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_badge?post=12257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
(Prepared by Mr Ali Eren Guven, TUR C)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"