Friday 02 May 2014
A delegation from the National Defense College comprising faculty members and student participants of course No.1 paid an official visit to the Kingdom of Belgium and Switzerland during the period from 19 April to 2 May, 2014. The visit came as part of college curriculum and aimed to offer student participants the opportunity to apply all theoretical material and concepts related to strategic thinking framework they have already studied in the course. The study visit also aimed to place special focus on the elements of strategy model i.e., ways, means and ends, to learn from the experience of NATO state members and other European countries in the area of national security and crisis management and to exchange strategic insights on some contemporary hot issues in the world and the way they are handling them. In Brussels, the capital city of Belgium, the delegation visited the agencies and institutions of the European Union including European External Action Service and European Parliament as well as NATO Headquarters, Belgian Armed Forces Headquarters and Belgian military academies. The delegation also visited international non-governmental organizations such as World Bank and International Organization for Migration . The visit schedule included tours to the military museum and Bruges city. Other activities included meeting some senior officials such as the Chief of Staff of the Belgian Armed Forces and His Excellency the UAE ambassador to the kingdom of Belgium. In Geneva, the delegation paid a visit to international non-governmental organizations such as World Health Organization(WHO),World Trade Organization (WTO) , International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies( IFRC), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and other UN organizations like United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) as well as UN headquarters building and museum. The delegation also visited Geneva Centre for Security Policy as one of the most prominent think tanks in Switzerland and Swiss Army headquarters where a lecture was delivered on the tasks and roles of the Swiss army.