George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

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George C. Marshall
European Center for Security Studies George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
- GCMC -
logo
motto Democratia per fidem et concordiam
( Democracy through trust and friendship )
founding 1993
Sponsorship USA & Federal Republic of Germany
place Garmisch-Partenkirchen
country Germany
director Army GenLt a. D. Keith Dayton
Students 1000 (July 12, 2008)
Employee 240
including professors 33
Website George C. Marshall Center

The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies is a German-American security and defense policy study center based in Garmisch-Partenkirchen . The sponsors are the United States Department of Defense and the German Federal Department of Defense . The German part is subordinate to the armed forces office.

Namesake

The center was named after the Nobel Peace Prize laureate George C. Marshall , whose visionary Marshall Plan ( European Recovery Program ) laid the economic foundations for the peaceful development of Europe after the Second World War .

task

The task of the Marshall Center is to create a stable security environment by promoting democratically anchored institutions and relationships, especially in the field of defense policy, by supporting active, peaceful cooperation in the field of security, and by strengthening lasting partnerships among the nations of North America , Europe and Eurasia . To achieve this goal, the center offers courses, conferences and outreach programs for members of the military and civilian government representatives from Europe, Eurasia, North America and other regions. The approximately 35 members of his teaching staff come from 10 partner countries - the United States and Germany, Austria, Canada, Lithuania, France, Italy, Albania, Australia and Great Britain.

history

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in 2003 at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

The need for a facility like the Marshall Center was recognized by defense experts in the context of the failed August 1991 coup in Russia . The United States European Command (EUCOM) began working on proposals to expand contacts in the fields of defense and security with the young democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. The aim was to have a positive influence on the development of democratic security structures. In February 1992 the then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell , was proposed to use the premises of the former Russian Institute of the US Army and to set up a European Center for Security Studies there, which would quickly provide opportunities for cooperation with organizations in the defense sector European and Eurasian states should be created. The plan was approved on March 17, 1992. Deputy Minister of Defense for Political Affairs, Paul Wolfowitz , approved the EUCOM proposal that summer, and staff began developing a charter for the proposed center.

In November 1992, US Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney signed the Department of Defense Directive 5200.34, which formed the basis for the creation of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies as an entity of the US Forces Command Europe. With the signing of the government agreement on December 2, 1994 between the EUCOM headquarters and the Federal Ministry of Defense , the Marshall Center became a German-American partnership project.

On June 5, 1993, the Marshall Center was inaugurated by the Commander-in-Chief of EUCOM, General John M. Shalikashvili . The center was commissioned to stabilize and thus strengthen Europe after the end of the Cold War. The German Defense Minister Volker Rühe and his American counterpart Les Aspin gave the speeches.

In 1997 a Wörner Hall named after Manfred Wörner , NATO Secretary General and Federal Defense Minister, was inaugurated here.

On June 11, 2003, the Marshall Center celebrated its 10th birthday. The US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his German counterpart Peter Struck gave the speeches. Nine other defense ministers from the region attended the celebrations.

Since its inception, the Marshall Center has dealt with the most important security issues in Europe, Eurasia and North America as part of its fixed course offerings and its outreach programs. The Marshall Center is facing the new security challenges of the 21st century and has continuously expanded its range of courses with three new fixed courses since 2004. When dealing with these questions, the focus is on international, cross-institutional and interdisciplinary cooperation.

Real estate

View of Wörner Hall, building 109 of the Marshall Center
Marshall Center Forum for Stability and Reconstruction (SSTaR) attendees video teleconference with Brigadier General John Nicholson, Jr. on March 11, 2009

The Marshall Center is located in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, just like the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort recreation center, which opened in September 2004 and is owned by the US Department of Defense . Both the Marshall Center and the Edelweiss Hotel are guarded by the US Army garrison in Garmisch, which is administered by the European Location Management Command.

The Marshall Center is housed in the Sheridan and Artillery barracks (formerly: Krafft-von-Dellmensingen - barracks ). The Sheridan barracks , originally Jäger barracks , was built in 1937 for the Wehrmacht . In 1945 the US Army first used the barracks as a prisoner-of-war camp for officers. From 1960 to 1992 the 1st Mountain Division of the Bundeswehr had its headquarters here . The barracks later housed members of the US armed forces stationed in Garmisch, the headquarters of the Armed Forces Recreation Center and, from May 1964, the later United States Russian Institute. In June 1992 the premises were transferred to the newly established George C. Marshall Center.

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The large plenary hall of the Marshall Center has more than 250 seats, interpreting booths and screens.

Courses

The Institute for Security and Defense Policy of the Marshall Center offers five courses on site that deal with questions of national, regional and international security. Each course takes place two or three times a year.

  • The Forum for Applied Security Studies - Capacity Building (English Program on Advanced Security Studies - Capacity Building or PASS-CB for short ) is the flagship among the courses at the Marshall Center. This ten-week intensive course for civilian government officials and members of the military provides university-level study content in the areas of security policy, defense matters, international relations and other related topics such as international law and the fight against terrorism. The forum comprises core seminars and in-depth elective seminars ( advanced seminars) with required reading, seminar and panel discussions, role plays and a one-week study trip, during which the participants learn how theoretical knowledge is applied in politics.
  • The Terrorism and Security Forum (PTSS) addresses many aspects of a threat that states around the world are facing. The five-week course is aimed at government officials, police forces and military personnel currently working in the field of counter-terrorism at mid-level or senior level worldwide. The course focuses on approaches and measures that enable states to effectively combat terrorism, but at the same time are in harmony with the fundamental values ​​of a democratic society. The participants will develop a common definition of terrorism and establish contacts that will help them to cope with this complex problem in an international environment.
  • The Senior Management Seminar (SES) is an eight-day intensive course in which high-ranking political decision-makers deal intensively with highly topical issues of international security. Participants include generals, senior diplomats, ambassadors, ministers, deputy ministers and parliamentarians. Each SES is dedicated to a specific topic and includes presentations by high-level government officials and recognized experts, followed by discussions in seminar groups.
  • The Transatlantic Civil Security Forum (STACS) provides national security experts from Europe, Eurasia, and North America with detailed insight into how countries can effectively address domestic security issues with regional and international implications. The three-week course deals with the practice of ensuring internal security as well as avoiding, preparing for - and coping with the consequences of domestic crises and disasters, also in a regional context. The STACS course is aimed at military personnel and government officials responsible for homeland security programs and activities, as well as representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations involved in homeland security.
  • The Forum for Stability and Reconstruction (SSTaR) deals with the questions why and when stabilization and reconstruction missions (SSTR) are necessary in the global security environment and how a country can participate productively in them. This three-week course is aimed at senior military personnel and civil servants (lieutenant colonel, colonel or civilian equivalent) who are responsible in ministries and institutions for planning and carrying out such operations. The course is designed to broaden the level of knowledge and skills of the participants so that they can provide advice on current and future operations of this type in their country.

The Marshall Center also offers subject-specific language courses as well as a language course on security studies and a language course on combating terrorism in connection with the PASS and the PTSS.

Alumni

The Marshall Center's graduate network supports events in partner countries, exchanges with experts via the Internet and special offers for selected graduates. Many of these activities are carried out in collaboration with the Marshall Center's alumni associations.

Via the Marshall Center Alumni Portal, graduates can view articles and reports from specialist journals from the library's holdings, publish their own essays and papers, discuss current security policy issues and use links to access other sites of current interest. The portal also contains a searchable graduate directory that is maintained by the alumni office.

As a special offer for selected graduates, experts on security issues can return to Garmisch as members of a community of interests, to exchange ideas with other alumni and to work with them in their respective fields. Graduates who have distinguished themselves in science and research can also return to the Marshall Center as scholarship holders and do research under the guidance of lecturers there.

The Marshall Center supports events organized by graduates, such as round tables on the topic of security cooperation, at which security experts can discuss key security issues in inter-ministerial forums. As of March 2009, 199 graduates of the Marshall Center courses were employed in the following positions:

Speaker of Parliament: 1
Members of Parliament: 56
Deputy Minister: 28
Minister: 11
Defense chief: 9
Ambassador: 94

External activities

In close cooperation with the Institute for Security and Defense Policy, the department for outreach activities plans, develops and conducts more than 100 events every year for participants in the partner countries who do not have the opportunity to attend courses in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Conferences and Workshops: The Marshall Center organizes about 20 conferences and workshops per year. They usually last three to four working days and provide an opportunity for a targeted exchange of information and views between experts and policy-makers. As a result, a summarizing report with concrete recommendations for political implementation will be created. Conferences and workshops take place with participants from one country or in a multinational regional framework either in Germany or in one of the participating countries.

Seminars by regional training teams : Teams from the teaching staff of the Marshall Center regularly hold specially designed external seminars (RETS). RETS are usually five-day interactive courses for 20 to 50 participants that deal intensively with specially requested topics. The following topics are currently being offered: Terrorism, peace and stability operations, NATO, Euro-Atlantic security and the development of defense institutions.

Speaker pool: Lecturers from the Marshall Center give lectures on a range of current security topics, such as regional security, peace and stability operations, terrorism, border security, the fight against organized crime and corruption, intelligence services, international law and defense transformation. Speakers are available to speak in English, German, Russian and various other regional languages.

Other programs

The Marshall Center also houses the training program for officers for foreign technical assignments in the Eurasian region (FAO) and the European Language Training Center for Partner States (PLTCE).

As part of the FAO program, US officers and officers from NATO countries are trained to become leading regional experts in the Eurasian area and prepared for assignments in important military-political positions throughout Eurasia. Each FAO program offers tailor-made and individual training. Most FAOs live, work and travel in Eurasia for 12 to 18 months and participate in Marshall Center activities. After the end of the program, the program will be used at American embassies in the region, at the most important NATO and US headquarters, as well as transfers to numerous missions around the world.

The PLTCE conducts language courses in more than ten languages ​​and dialects for military and civil language mediators from the USA, NATO and PfP countries. It also offers courses in English and German as a foreign language for international participants in the permanent courses offered by the Institute for Security and Defense Policy.

In addition, the Secretariat of the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Institutes of Security Studies is located at the Marshall Center. The aim of this international organization is to strengthen defense-related and military education and research by promoting cooperation between institutions and nations.

Research library

The Marshall Center's research library supports the center's education, information, research, and outreach programs. The library staff provides teachers, employees, course participants and graduates with professional help with research and searches in the three working languages ​​Russian, German and English. The Research Library was named Library / Information Center of 2006 by the Library of Congress in the Smaller Libraries category.

The library's holdings were originally built as part of the former US Army's Russian Institute. This unique inventory of materials from the Cold War was the basis of the research library when the Marshall Center was founded in 1993. The less common holdings include not only bound volumes from leading Russian daily newspapers such as Izvestia , Krasnaya Zvezda and Pravda from 1948 to 1985, but also Russian encyclopedias the early 20th century. Today the library has more than 55,000 books in Russian, English and German, 300 subscriptions to current periodicals, 1,200 regularly published titles on paper and microfilm, and a collection of special documents and reports.

The library is part of the Network of Military Training and Research Libraries (MERLN), which is maintained by the National Defense University Library at. The site contains links to digitized collections, online resources and electronic publications by members of the network. The MERLN Group's catalog provides easy access to the collections of the largest US military libraries.

Publications

The Marshall Center "Occasional Papers" series publishes current articles by scholars and security experts in the politico-military field. The "Occasional Papers" are written by the tutors and research staff of the Marshall Center, by graduates and guest authors.

The Marshall Center Security Insights Papers series includes short articles on key current defense and security issues. This series is designed to meet the needs of policy makers, their advisors, and anyone else looking for concise summaries and analysis of current security issues. These articles are generally written by the faculty and staff at the Marshall Center.

The Marshall Center Papers, the original series of the Marshall Center, focused on comparative and interdisciplinary topics. They are still available online.

In addition, the research department has published four book-length research studies.

Other regional centers for security cooperation

The Marshall Center is one of five regional security studies facilities, all administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The other four are:

  • The Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) deals with fundamental strategic issues of US policy in Africa. It offers programs, promotes awareness and dialogue on US strategic priorities and African security issues, seeks to build lasting relationships of trust with the military and civilian leadership of Africa, and supports American policymakers in shaping an effective Africa policy, among other things, by introducing them to the African perspective.
  • The Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) was officially opened on September 4, 1995 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The APCSS is a regional study, conference and research center whose peaceful mission is to improve security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region through leadership training programs, professional exchanges and security policy research. The center is a single point of contact for national government officials, decision-makers and politicians who want to exchange ideas, discuss pressing issues and gain a better understanding of the challenges that define the security environment in the Asia-Pacific region.
  • The Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS) is a leading regional forum that provides defense and security education at a strategic level, supports research and promotes dialogue on the design of an effective security policy in the western hemisphere. The civil and military graduates of the CHDS and the partner institutions include influential groups working towards a stable international security environment that is characterized by closer cooperation.
  • The Near East-South Asia Center (NESA) aims to contribute to increased stability in the Middle East and South Asia by providing an academic environment in which military and civilian leaders from the region and the United States discuss strategic issues and their knowledge deepen, consolidate their partnerships, and improve defense-related decision-making processes and cooperation.

literature

  • Reinold Schleifenbaum, Christof Dahm , Hans J Tebarth, Jürgen Heideking, Jack D. Hoschauer, Kurt Jürgensen, Boris Meissner, Alfred M. de Zayas: George Marshall, Germany and the turning point in the East-West conflict , Kulturstiftung d. German expellees 1997, ISBN 3-88557-170-6

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ DoD Directive 5200.34
  2. ↑ US Army Garrison Garmisch
  3. ↑ US Army Installation Management Command - Europe: Proper use of outdoor cooking items key to fire safety ( Memento from April 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ "Partnership for Peace" of the Defense Academies and Institutes for Security Studies
  5. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated May 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / merln.ndu.edu
  6. ↑ MC Occasional Papers ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.marshallcenter.org
  7. ↑ MC Security Insights ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.marshallcenter.org
  8. ↑ The Marshall Center Papers ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.marshallcenter.org
  9. ↑ Research Studies ( Memento of the original from March 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.marshallcenter.org
  10. ↑ http://www.africacenter.org/
  11. ↑ http://www.apcss.org/
  12. ↑ http://www.ndu.edu/chds
  13. ↑ http://nesa-center.org/