Defense Summer University, a “really” good idea to be repeated
(BRUXELLES2) A simple but effective idea. A few students, selected, spend a week in a military academy, to be initiated into the Belgian army's peacekeeping or peacemaking operations.
30 students from the main Belgian universities (UCL, KUL, ULG, VUB, ULB) have just received their certificate of participation this Saturday at the first Defense summer school organized by Belgian Defense (1). 25 Belgians, 3 French, 1 Swiss and 1 Polish took part; all at the end of their university course, mainly in political science or law, but also in history, language, communications, letters, philosophy or management.
The 12 girls and 18 boys participating were thus able to discover several of the operations in which the Belgian forces are involved (KFOR Kosovo, UNIFIL Lebanon, ISAF, Atalanta) directly with officers returning from the field as well as the security issues in a few key regions ( Great Lakes, Horn of Africa) not to mention the introduction to certain concepts such as the "Comprehensive Approach", the notion of 'Risks & Threats' as well as the CSDP
The summer university idea is really excellent and should be renewed. As one enthusiastic participant told me: It was very interesting. We were able to discover the views and issues of the military. What is not the case at the uni. So why not a summer school within the framework of the European Defense College, a kind of junior college, With both a national component (of the country holding the rotating presidency) and a European component?...
(1) Not to be confused with the summer defense universities, French, organized by the defense committees of the National Assembly and the Senate which took place Monday and Tuesday in Marseille. Read :
- Admiral Païtard only hears with one ear… He is not the only one!
- Surobi, first stage of a French withdrawal from Afghanistan?
- Hervé Morin relaunches the battle for the European operations headquarters
- France, United Kingdom and United States determined to make NATO rougher
- Interview with Victor Ozerov: the special voice of Russia is heard
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
Perhaps the words of this student should be qualified. There has been a course on the ESDP for 10 years at the University of Liège in DEA then, with Bologna, in master 2. The subjects concern missions, capacity, risks, EU strategies, relations with the NATO, the multinationalization of forces, permanent structured cooperation, CSDP politico-military bodies, ESDP/CSDP training and values, links with public opinion and parliaments. Some courses bring the hearings of external personalities, diplomats, soldiers, senior officials of the EU. The relationship between Belgium and the EU in terms of CSDP is approached transversally.