Maj Gen Leakey, Director General EU Military Staff, addressing the Course

82 Members (ie students) visited HQ NATO – some on familiar ground, for others (from the Middle East and Africa for example) it was a new experience - and the old European Parliament Building which was an excellent venue for briefings from and discussions with EU speakers.

The Course was initially addressed in HQ NATO by the UK Permanent Representative (PermRep), HE Mr Stewart Eldon, and the Chief of Staff and Deputy Military Representative Brigadier Jeremy Thorn (who had previously attended RCDS) to give the UK’s perspective. Dr Jamie Shea, Head of the Policy Planning Unit of the Secretary General’s Office (and former NATO spokesman) gave a fast flow of ideas and subjects that provided an array of hooks and plenty of food for thought regarding current international issues and future challenges for NATO – of which there are many!

The Course hosted a buffet lunch for Mission Delegation Heads of those countries represented by the RCDS (some 48 countries). This was an excellent opportunity to not only spread the word that RCDS was in town but practise some diplomatic dialogue on some of the issues raised in the briefings.

Lt Gen Eikenberry, Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee – who had previously been Commander Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan - briefed on Afghanistan which is NATO’s current top priority and first major operation. We also heard, in a panel session, from the PermReps from Norway and Bulgaria and the Deputy for France on how they saw the role of NATO and current issues.

The highlight of the day at NATO was the address by the Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. He provided a perfect example of using his limited time to maximum effect – a rapid fire bullet point brief that touched on all the strategic issues affecting the Alliance. His openness was much appreciated in the subsequent question and answer session.

Day 2 was EU day when heard from speakers from the Commission (RELEX and a Commissioner’s cabinet), the Council (EMS) and the Parliament, who spoke on a huge range of issues ranging from crisis management to trade, the latter being particularly helpful in looking at underlying globalisation issues and knock-on effects regarding security in the broadest sense.  Karl Von Wogau, a longstanding German MEP and Chairman of the Security and Defence Committee, provided the perspective from Parliament on the salient issues. 

Maj Gen David Leakey (formally of RCDS), Director General EU Military Staff, spoke on the development of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). Amongst other matters, he emphasised that, contrary to tabloid headlines (including one shortly after our visit!), there is no Euro Army but that the EU, with its economic weight, can make a serious contribution to international security through its member states combining to deploy both military and civilian missions into crisis areas under ESDP.

RCDS is extremely grateful to the UK Mil Reps of both NATO and the EU for organising the events. The visit not only added value to the understanding by RCDS members of both organisations (the primary objective) but was also a good example of defence diplomacy.