From 15 to 19 May 2023, Senior Course 142 (SC 142) took part in a Negotiation, Mediation and Decision-Making Exercise (NMDX) at the NATO Defense College.
Over a period of five days, Course Members (CMs) had the opportunity to explore NATO’s role in crisis response operations, and the Alliance’s organization and functioning in crisis management situations.
The NMDX is designed to exercise “grand strategic”-level consultations and decision-making in an evolving crisis environment. The aim of the activity is to consolidate SC 142 by developing a practical understanding of group dynamics in an exercise environment, where multinational consensus-building negotiations, mediation and decision-making processes are practised along the lines of the NATO Crisis Response Process. The exercise was planned and moderated by NDC Faculty Advisor with Study Period Colonel Jan Círek and NDC Staff SMEs.
Throughout the week, Course Members had to deal with the conditions and special requirements of international crisis management and multilateral politico-military decision-making at NATO Senior Committee and Ambassadorial level – being assigned the roles of NATO officials and national representatives on Senior Committees, as well as on the North Atlantic Council. Course Members also received a briefing by Ms Irina Novakova, Head of Media Operations at NATO Headquarters, on “NATO messaging in a complex security environment”, providing them with a practical approach to strategic communications.
The exercise seeks to portray a crisis of which the UN Security Council (UNSC) has been seized and where NATO has been invited to consider a Crisis Response Operation (CRO) deployment, likely under a UNSC mandate, aimed at enhancing stability and security and preventing further escalation of a regional crisis within and between fictitious non-NATO states. Course Members were asked to develop politico-military and strategic options, negotiate, mediate and decide by consensus. The exercise therefore consolidated the academic objectives of the Senior Course in their full complexity.
The Working Groups were advised and guided by Senior Mentors. The Senior Mentors were Lieutenant General (Ret.) Antonio Li Gobbi, former Director Operations at NATO’s International Military Staff; Lieutenant General (Ret.) Jan Broeks, former Director-General of NATO’s International Military Staff; Mr Ted Whiteside, who served at NATO HQ as Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy; Lieutenant General (Ret.) Michel Yakovleff, former Vice Chief of Staff (VCOS) at SHAPE; and Major General (Ret.) Tim Bevis, former Director Operations & Planning, International Military Staff at NATO HQ.
Course Members successfully completed the exercise, ending the fifth day with sound knowledge of consensus-building techniques, crisis management and strategic communications.
NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Zsofia Juhasz, HUN C)
NATO Defense College