{"id":12541,"date":"2017-11-17T13:40:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T12:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/generals-flag-officers-ambassadors-course-gfoac-2017-2\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T09:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T08:21:23","slug":"generals-flag-officers-ambassadors-course-gfoac-2017-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/generals-flag-officers-ambassadors-course-gfoac-2017-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Generals, Flag Officers &#038; Ambassadors\u2019 Course  (GFOAC 2017-2)"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GFOAC_2017_2_1_1.jpg\" alt=\"Participants to the GFOAC 2017-2\" \/><figcaption>Participants to the GFOAC 2017-2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">The Generals, Flag Officers &#038; Ambassadors\u2019 Course took place this week at the NATO Defense College. Bringing together 48 high-level civilian and military participants from 31 different countries, GFOAC 2107-2 was entitled \u201c<i>NATO: Facing an Increasingly Diverse, Unpredictable, and Demanding Security Environment<\/i>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">The Course was introduced on Monday 13 November by Course Director BrigGen Heinz-Josef Feldmann (DEU A), Head of the NDC Academic Planning and Policy Division, and participants were warmly welcomed by the Dean of the NDC, BrigGen (ret.) Franti&#x161;ek Mi&#x10D;&#xE1;nek. An opening lecture entitled \u201cCultural Dialogue: the Western Encounter with the Rest\u201d was delivered by Prof. Christopher Coker (GBR). In the afternoon, further lectures took place: focusing on \u201cThe Transatlantic Link: the Cornerstone of the Alliance\u201d, these were given by Ambassador Robert E. Hunter (USA) and Prof. Dr Rob De Wijk (NLD).<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">On the following day, GFOAC Course Members enjoyed lectures on \u201cDemographic Trends\u201d, by Prof Gunnar Heinsohn (DEU); and \u201cNATO Conventional and Nuclear Deterrence\u201d, by Dr Jeff Larsen (USA) of the NDC and Mr Richard Perks (CAN).<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">On Wednesday 15 November, the Course focused on the main threats and challenges the Alliance is facing. There was a lecture on \u201cRussia\u2019s Threat Perception and Military Outlook\u201d, by Mr Keir Giles (GBR), followed in the afternoon by a lecture on \u201cThe Future of NATO\u201d, delivered by Prof. Julian Lindley-French (GBR). <\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">The participants were able to deepen their knowledge about NATO&#x2019;s structure and key features by attending interesting lectures on &#x201C;NATO in the Post-Cold War Order: Challenges and Implications&#x201D;, by Dr Karl-Heinz KAMP (DEU) and Prof. Peter Viggo JAKOBSEN (DNK); &#x201C;NATO and the Transatlantic Link&#x201D;, by Mr Stanley R. SLOAN (USA) and Prof. Sten RYNNING (DNK); &#x201C; NATO Strategic Guidance&#x201D;, by Mr Michael R&#xDC;HLE (NATO\/DEU); &#x201C;NATO Resource Policy&#x201D;, by Mr Joris GHESQUIERE (BEL); &#x201C;NATO Conventional and Nuclear Deterrence&#x201D;, by Mr Timo KOSTER (NATO\/NLD) and Dr Jeffrey LARSEN (NDC\/USA); and final presentations on &#x201C;NATO Defence Planning&#x201D;, by Mr Ian BAYLESS (NATO\/GBR) and Prof. Alexander MATTELAER (BEL).<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">Lectures on the following day focused on regional issues relevant for NATO and its partners: \u201cThe Middle East and North Africa\u201d, by Prof. Mustapha Benchenane (FRA); and \u201cThe Security Implications of the Rise of China\u201d, by Prof. Jonathan Holslag (BEL). <\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">The course ended on Friday 17 November with a lecture by Mr  Michael R\u00fchle (DEU\/NATO) on \u201cNATO Strategic Guidance\u201d. Closing remarks were given by BrigGen Feldmann. <\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">One of the NDC\u2019s main courses, the GFOAC offers an in-depth review of NATO security concerns, priorities and capabilities for high-ranking participants from NATO, the Partership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue, the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative and Global Partners. <\/p>\n<p><em>NDC Public Affairs Office<br \/>\n(Prepared by Mr Paolo Cazzini, ITA C)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Participants to the GFOAC 2017-2 The Generals, Flag Officers &#038; Ambassadors\u2019 Course took place this week at the<\/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-12541","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 9 ans il y a","modified":"Mis \u00e0 jour 6 mois il y a"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 le novembre 17, 2017","modified":"Mise \u00e0 jour le janvier 15, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 le novembre 17, 2017 13:40","modified":"Mise \u00e0 jour le janvier 15, 2026 09:21"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12541","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=12541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12541\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12541"},{"taxonomy":"post_badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_badge?post=12541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}