CORE SEMINARS: Executive and Senior Executive Seminars
منذ انشائها ، نيسا مركز البرامج الاساسية التي توفر الاساس الذي بنينا عليه ، وتعزيز مهمتنا. اننا نحمل 3 ونصف الاسبوع التنفيذي لحلقات الليوتينانت كولونيل العميد على مستوى كبار المسؤولين التنفيذيين والاقصر حلقات العلم / المكتب العام ، وكذلك وزير ambassad
Executive Seminar Class in Front of the U.S. Capitol (October 2003)
or-level participants. In response to our participants suggestions, the length of both the ES and SES will be extended starting in 2007. Topics include the American national security structure and process, the current and future regional strategic environment, counter-terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and disaster management. We also offer two-week Combating Terrorism seminars as described below.
These off-the-record, not-for-attribution seminars encourage a frank and open exchange of views. Participants are reminded when they arrive that they should speak candidly rather than use their government talking points or policy statements. Seminars generally contain 35-40 participants from 19-23 different countries, including the United States. Plenary sessions bring in outside speakers senior U.S. government officials, specialists from think tanks, and academicians to help frame broad issues and generate both thinking and discussion. The real magic happens, how ever, in the smaller breakout groups. These faculty-led discussions are frank and open, drawing out the participants in a way that cannot happen in larger groups.
In general, NESA Executive Seminars follow the schedule below. The Senior Executive Seminars (SES) cover the same topics, but in a compressed time frame. The 2-week SES is extending to two weeks in 2007, at the specific request of alumni. They told us, in no uncertain terms, that the program should be longer and that ensuring senior level officials attend is a priority of their countries, even given a longer schedule. We listened and we changed -- as simple as that.
During seminars, participant site visits include the Pentagon, State Department, Capitol Hill, and frequently the National Security Council and the Supreme Court. On the visits, participants meet with senior officials, Members of Congress, Hill staffers, lobbyists, and others to learn how they fill their roles in policy formulation. In particular, the Capitol Hill visit is very popular; not only do the participants sit on the House Floor to learn about the complex Congressional procedures, they also meet lobbyists, many encountering the concept of professional advocacy for the first time. Participants are surprised to find that these lobbyists, despite their infamous regional reputation, are, in fact, simply people advocating for causes in which they believe. Specifically relevant to the NESA region, our participants hear from advocates for Israel, Arab countries, and India. In 2007, we have also reinstituted an old tradition of going to Norfolk for a day (see picture) to see the naval base and the Yorktown battlefield.
Responding to Our Alumni and Stakeholders Needs
Responding to the needs of our region and our stakeholders, the NESA Center holds specialized Executive Seminars (ES), such as the recent Strategic Communication ES described below. In this post-9/11 world, terrorism is a concern to all, particularly those in our region. The Center conducts two two-week Combating Terrorism seminars annually that bring together regional practitioners who work on CT issues. To make progress in countering support for terrorism, we need to look at causes rather than just at specific attacks. The role of the NESA Center and the other RCs is not to tell those in the kinetic world how to do their jobs, but rather to contribute to them having less to do. As GEN John P. Abizaid, former Commander of U.S. Central Command, often said, the fight against terrorism and extremism should be 85% non-kinetic. The NESA Center s role is to help policymakers understand how to change this dynamic.
The Center not only focuses on its region, but also on the embassies from the region in Washington. Center alumni fill senior embassy positions, but our programs also reach out to the broader embassy community. In 2005, we began a monthly Washington Seminar series where we bring senior USG speakers to discuss NESA region strategic issues with the diplomatic community affording them access to officials they might not otherwise meet.
As in the SES seminar described above, when our participants talk, the Center responds, and we will extend the length of our two core programs in 2007 because of input we received. In response to other comments, in October 2006, we instituted a new Embassy Orientation Seminar for newly-arrived ambassadors, defense attachés, and other officials at NESA embassies in Washington. This program resulted from an ambassador s suggestion during our SES course in the spring of 2006 and less than six months later we stood up the seminar. We do not just talk to our participants and alumni, we listen. Their good ideas help continually improve our programs for the benefit of successive regional participants and our stakeholders.
In-Region: The NESA Center Coming Soon to a Country Near You
One major change of the past 18 months is a significant increase in the number of NESA Center programs held in the region and overseas. Although these programs stretch limited budget resources, we made a strategic decision to hold more such events. The Center s FY 2006 in-region and overseas programs represented a 40% increase over FY 2005 and a more than 130% increase over FY 2004. These can be multi-day programs such as a Border Security Workshop held in Jordan, or fairly short ones like a seminar on South Asian security, co-hosted with the Asia-Pacific Center, in Sri Lanka in 2006. In addition, our Director travels frequently to the area, meeting with foreign governments, alumni, and U.S. country teams. Our faculty and staff travel for conferences and speeches, and meet with alumni, who also frequently visit us in Washington.
Alumni Symposium
Our biggest event in the region thus far was our five-year reunion held in Istanbul, Turkey in November 2005. This Alumni Symposium brought together more than 100 former participants from across our region. For three very intense days, we discussed recent policy developments (including the Amman hotel bombings that happened less than a week before we met) and caught up with old friends. This was a first for the NESA Center and we plan to repeat this event regularly by reuniting alumni from a specific year, professional field, or sub-region.
Regional Network of Strategic Studies Centers
Working with counterpart institutions, the NESA Center established a Regional Network of Strategic Studies Centers in our region. This Network s goal is to expand the strategic dialogue among institutions throughout the region, in response to regional requests for more avenues of dialogue and cooperation in meeting security challenges. The Network initiative is co-sponsored by: the Institute for Strategic Studies, Research, and Analysis (National Defense College, Pakistan); the Center for Strategic Research (SAM Turkey); and the National Center for Strategic Studies (National Defense College, Jordan). The Network conducts business through traditional face-to-face meetings and Working Group activities, as well as virtual activities.
Combatant Command Support Events
These programs include a wide variety of events in support of the three Combatant Commands in the NESA Center region CENTCOM, PACOM, and EUCOM. Programs may be focused geographically by sub-region or country, or by functional topic and are usually 3-5 day workshops. The NESA Center has executed such events with CENTCOM annually from 2002 to 2004, most recently supporting the 2006 Eagle Resolve exercise.
Faculty Lecture Tours
These tours are a research and outreach opportunity for NESA Center faculty, often combined with an alumni or Network event. They allow faculty to conduct research, attend speaking engagements and conferences, and maintain professional institutional relationships. NESA Center faculty are required to conduct lecture tours in the NESA region where they present findings from their latest research. These lectures serve as a means to engage NESA alumni, strategic study centers, defense colleges, universities, and other interested parties.
