George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies is a unique U.S. Department of Defense and German Defense Ministry security and defense studies institute. Since its dedication in 1993, its mission has been to create a more stable security environment by advancing democratic institutions and relationships, especially in the field of defense; promoting active, peaceful, security cooperation; and enhancing enduring partnerships among the nations of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, and Eurasia

Eurasia

Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...

. The Marshall Center offers graduate-level resident programs as well as conferences and other outreach programs to military and civilian government officials from Europe, Eurasia, North America and beyond. Its international faculty consists of 35 faculty members from 10 countries — the United States and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, as well as Austria, Canada, Croatia, France, Italy,Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. The Marshall Center’s College of International and Strategic Studies offers five resident courses that examine national, regional and international security issues. Each course is held two or three times a year.

The Marshall Center is co-located with the Armed Forces Recreation Center's Edelweiss Lodge and Resort
Edelweiss Lodge and Resort
Edelweiss Lodge and Resort is a U.S. Department of Defense owned recreation hotel in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Located in the Bavarian Alps near the Austrian border, the facility opened in September 2004 at a cost of $80 million....

, a U.S. Department of Defense owned hotel in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria...

, Germany

Germany

. Located in the Bavarian Alps near the Austrian

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

border, the Edelweiss opened in September 2004. Both the Marshall Center and the Edelweiss are supported by the U.S. Army Garrison Garmisch, which falls under Army Installation Management Command-Europe.

Background

After the failed August 1991 coup attempt in Russia, defense specialists identified the need for an institution such as the Marshall Center. The United States European Command
United States European Command
The United States European Command is one of ten Unified Combatant Commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, Russia, Iceland, Greenland, and Israel...

(EUCOM) began to develop proposals to expand defense and security contacts with the emerging democracies of Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia in order to positively influence the development of security structures appropriate for democratic states. In February 1992, a proposal was submitted to then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, and is the principal military adviser to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council and the Secretary of Defense...

General Colin Powell to use the facilities of the former U.S. Army Russia Institute (USARI) to create a European center for security studies in order to rapidly develop opportunities to work with European and Eurasian defense establishments. He endorsed the plan on March 17, 1992. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Paul Wolfowitz

Paul Wolfowitz

Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...

approved the proposal that summer, and the staffs began developing a charter for the proposed center.

Former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney

Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....

signed DOD Directive 5200.34 in November 1992, establishing the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies as an element of EUCOM under the authority, direction and control of the commander-in-chief, EUCOM. The Marshall Center became a German-American partnership when a memorandum of agreement was signed on December 2, 1994, between headquarters EUCOM and the German Ministry of Defense.

EUCOM Commander in Chief Gen. John M. Shalikashvili

John M. Shalikashvili

John Malchase David Shalikashvili was a United States Army General who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993 to 1997. He was born in Warsaw, Poland, to Georgian refugee parents....

hosted the June 5, 1993 ceremony officially dedicating the Marshall Center in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

, Germany

Germany

. The center was given the charter of stabilizing and thereby strengthening post-Cold War Europe. Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and German Minister of Defense Volker Rühe

Volker Rühe

Volker Rühe is a German politician affiliated with the CDU. He served as German Defence minister from April 1, 1992, succeeding Gerhard Stoltenberg during the first government of a reunified Germany in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Kohl, to the end of the fifth Kohl Cabinet on October 27, 1998...

were the keynote speakers.

The facilities of the Marshall Center encompass the Sheridan Kaserne and Artillery, formerly the Krafft von Dellmensingen Kaserne. Sheridan Kaserne, originally named Jaeger Kaserne, was built in 1937 to house German military (Wehrmacht) troops. The U.S. Army first used the installation in 1945 as a prisoner-of-war camp for officers. The headquarters of the First Mountain Division of the new German Army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...

was located on the Kasernes from 1960 to 1992. The installation became home to the Garmisch U.S. military community, the headquarters of the Armed Forces Recreation Center and the former U.S. Army Russia Institute (USARI) in May 1964. In June 1992, the facilities transferred to the newly formed George C. Marshall Center.

On June 11, 2003, the Marshall Center celebrated its 10th anniversary. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...

and German Minister of Defense Dr. Peter Struck

Peter Struck

Peter Struck was the German Minister of Defence under chancellor Gerhard Schröder from 22 October 2002 until 2005. A lawyer, Struck is a member of the Social Democratic Party.-Education:* 1962: Abitur...

were the keynote speakers. Nine other ministers of defense from the region also attended the festivities.

Since its dedication, the Marshall Center has addressed the most important security issues confronting Europe, Eurasia and North America through its resident and outreach programs. In keeping abreast of 21st century security challenges, the Marshall Center has continued to expand its offerings, adding three new resident courses since 2004 and focusing on the need for international, interagency and interdisciplinary cooperation in addressing those challenges.

MC Resident Courses

The Program in Advanced Security Studies (PASS) is the Marshall Center’s flagship resident program. This 12-week course of study for civilian government officials and military officers provides graduate-level education in security policy

Security policy

Security policy is a definition of what it means to be secure for a system, organization or other entity. For an organization, it addresses the constraints on behavior of its members as well as constraints imposed on adversaries by mechanisms such as doors, locks, keys and walls...

, defense affairs, international relations

International relations

International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...

and related topics, such as international law and counterterrorism. PASS consists of core studies and electives, which include assigned readings, seminar discussions, panels and role-playing exercises, and includes a one-week field study that allows participants to see how theoretical knowledge is applied in the political arena.

The Program on Terrorism and Security Studies (PTSS) addresses numerous aspects of a threat that confronts nations around the globe. This five-week course is designed for government officials, police and military officers currently employed in mid- and upperlevel management of counterterrorism organizations throughout the world. The course focuses on methods to help a state effectively combat terrorism

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

but still adhere to the fundamental values of a democratic society

Society

A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...

. Participants develop a common understanding of the definition of terrorism and establish contacts that help them approach this complex problem in an international environment.

The Senior Executive Seminar (SES) is an intensive eight-day program that offers policymakers a forum for exploring a current international security issue in depth. Participants include general officers, senior diplomats, ambassadors, ministers

Minister (government)

A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....

, deputy ministers and parliamentarians

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

. Each SES focuses on a specific issue and includes formal presentations by senior officials and recognized experts, followed by discussions in seminar groups.

The Seminar on Transatlantic Civil Security (STACS) provides civil security professionals from Europe

Europe

, Eurasia

Eurasia

and North America an in-depth look at how nations can effectively address domestic security issues that have regional and international impact. The three-week seminar examines best practices for ensuring civil security and preventing, preparing for and managing the consequences of domestic and regional crises and disasters. STACS is offered for military officers and government officials responsible for civil security policies and programs, as well as representatives of intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations with civil security responsibilities.

The Program for Security, Stability, Transition, and Reconstruction (SSTaR) addresses both why and when security, stability, transition, and reconstruction (SSTaR) operations are required in the global security environment and how a nation can participate productively. This three-week course is for mid-career military and civilian officials (lieutenant colonel

Lieutenant colonel

Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

, colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

or the civilian equivalent) who are working in a government position that deals with the planning or execution of SSTaR operations. It is designed to enhance the knowledge and skills participants need to be able to advise on their nation’s contributions to current and potential multinational SSTaR operations.

The Marshall Center also offers specialized language courses, the Security Studies Language Program and the Combating Terrorism Language Program, in conjunction with PASS and PTSS.

Graduate Support

The Marshall Center works to support and expand its network of alumni through dialogue and information exchange, continuing professional development opportunities, and collaboration with graduates who seek to uphold its ideals and vision. This network is supported through a comprehensive program including in-country events, web-based professional involvement and special opportunities for selected graduates. Many of these activities are conducted in cooperation with Marshall Center alumni associations.

Graduates have access to many resources via the Marshall Center’s alumni portal. This password-protected website includes access to library databases of periodical and scholarly journal articles. The alumni portal also makes graduate essays and papers available, hosts discussion forums about the key security challenges of the day, and links to other materials of topical interest to alumni. The portal also provides a searchable directory of alumni maintained by the Graduate Support Program as a networking tool for security professionals.

Special opportunities for selected graduates include the opportunity for practitioners or experts in specific security fields to return to Garmisch as part of a Community of Interest, to focus and collaborate with other graduates in their specific areas of expertise. Additionally, graduates with exceptional scholarly and writing skills can return as a Marshall Center Scholar to conduct research under the sponsorship of Marshall Center faculty.

Outreach Programs

Through its Outreach Programs Directorate, the Marshall Center is able to extend programs on critical security and defense issues to the widest possible audiences within partner nations, including those who may not be able to attend resident courses in Garmisch Partenkirchen, and respond to requests for special focused events. In coordination with the College of International and Security Studies, the Outreach Programs Directorate plans, develops and conducts more than 100 outreach activities a year.

Conferences and Workshops: The Marshall Center organizes approximately 20 conferences and workshops per year. These events, typically three to four working days in length, allow for focused sharing of information and viewpoints among experts and policymakers, leading to a summary report with concrete policy recommendations. Conferences and workshops are conducted in single nation or multinational regional formats either in Germany or at a location in a participating country.

Regional Education Team Seminars: Teams of Marshall Center faculty routinely conduct customized Regional Education Team Seminars (RETS) throughout the world, bringing Marshall Center expertise directly to partner nations in tailored, compressed
form. RETS typically are five-day packages of detailed, interactive instruction for audiences of 20-50 officials on requested topics of interest. Currently available packages include Terrorism

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

; Stability

Stability

-Mathematics:*Stability theory, the study of the stability of solutions to differential equations and dynamical systems**Lyapunov stability**Structural stability*Stability of a point in geometric invariant theory....

, Security

Security

Security is the degree of protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition. The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies in the OSSTMM 3 defines security as "a form of protection...

, Transformation and Reconstruction; NATO; Euro-Atlantic Security; and Defense Institution Building.

Speakers Bureau: Marshall Center faculty are available to speak on a wide range of contemporary security issues, such as regional security, peace and stability operations, terrorism

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

, border security, combating organized crime

Organized crime

Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...

and corruption

Political corruption

Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...

, intelligence

Intelligence

Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....

, international law

International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...

, and defense transformation. Speakers are available to give presentations in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

and several other regional languages.

Other Programs

Also located at the Marshall Center are the Eurasian Foreign Area Officer Program (FAO) and the Partner Language Training Center Europe (PLTCE.)

The FAO program prepares U.S. military officers and officers of allied nations to be leading regional experts and to serve in key political-military assignments throughout Eurasia. While each FAO executes a unique, tailored, individual training program, most FAOs can expect to spend 12–18 months living, working, and traveling in Eurasia, as well as participating in Marshall Center activities. After completing the program, FAOs will go on to serve in U.S. embassies in the region, on NATO and major U.S. theater command staffs, and on numerous operational missions throughout the world.

The PLTCE conducts classroom language instruction in more than ten languages and dialects to U.S., NATO and Partnership for Peace military and civilian linguists. English and German classes are also offered to the international participants in the College’s resident programs.

Additionally, the operations staff of the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes is located at the Marshall Center. This international organization is dedicated to strengthening defense and military education and research through enhanced institutional and national cooperation.

In cooperation with Bundeswehr University of Munich the Marshall Center has introduced a Master's degree program (International Strategic Studies) for senior leaders.

Notable alumni

As part of its continuing engagement with alumni, the Marshall Center offers support for alumni-led activities, such as security cooperation roundtables, which provide an opportunity for security professionals to discuss important security issues in an inter-ministerial forum. As of March 2009, 199 graduates of Marshall Center resident programs are serving in the following positions: Speaker of Parliament - 1; Minister - 11; Deputy Minister - 28; Chief of Defense - 9; Ambassador - 94; Member of Parliament - 56.

The Research Library

The Marshall Center Research Library supports the education, information, research and outreach requirements of the Marshall Center. The library staff provides professional research and reference assistance to faculty, staff, course participants and alumni in the Center’s three working languages, Russian, German and English. The library named Federal Library/Information Center of the Year for 2006, small library category, by the Library of Congress, in recognition of the staff’s effectiveness, versatility and the dedication to its customers.

The library’s collection was developed as part of the U.S. Army Russian Institute. These unique Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

materials formed the basis of the research library when the Marshall Center was established in 1993. Some of the more unusual holdings include bound volumes of prominent Russian newspapers such as Izvestia

Izvestia

Izvestia is a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper in Russia. The word "izvestiya" in Russian means "delivered messages", derived from the verb izveshchat . In the context of newspapers it is usually translated as "news" or "reports".-Origin:The newspaper began as the News of the...

, Red Star

Red star

A red star, five-pointed and filled, is an important ideological and religious symbol which has been used for various purposes, such as: state emblems, flags, monuments, ornaments, and logos.- Symbol of communism :...

and Pravda

Pravda

Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....

from 1948–1985, as well as Russian encyclopedias from the early 20th century. Today, the library offers more than 55,000 books in Russian, English, and German, 300 current periodical subscriptions, and 1,200 total periodicals in paper and microform, as well as specialized documents and reports.

The library is a member of MERLN, the Military Education Research Library Network, maintained by the National Defense University Library at http://merln.ndu.edu/. The site contains links to digitized collections, e-resources and the electronic publications of participating members. The MERLN group catalog provides easy access to the holdings of major U.S. military libraries.

Publications

The Marshall Center Occasional Papers series provides a publication forum for research topics in the wide scope of political-military affairs. It offers up-to-date research information and analysis on the issues being discussed by scholars and security experts. Occasional Papers are written by Marshall Center faculty and research staff, Marshall Center alumni and invited contributors.

The Marshall Center Security Insights series provides short articles that identify, explain, and put into context significant current defense and security issues. The series is aimed at the needs of political decision makers, their aides and others who are looking for concise summaries and analyses of current security topics. The Marshall Center Security Insights are generally authored by Marshall Center faculty and staff.

The Marshall Center's original publications series, The Marshall Center Papers, focused on comparative and interdisciplinary topics and is still available online.

The Research Program has also published four book-length research studies.

DSCA Regional Centers

The Marshall Center is one of five regionally-focused security studies organizations, all of which are managed by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency

Defense Security Cooperation Agency

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency , as part of the United States Department of Defense , provides financial and technical assistance, transfer of defense matériel, training and services to allies, and promotes military-to-military contacts....

. The other four are:

The Africa Center (ACSS) http://www.africacenter.org supports the development of U.S. strategic policy towards Africa by providing a variety of programs, fostering awareness of and dialogue on U.S. strategic priorities and African security issues, building trusting long-term relationships with African military and civilian leaders, assisting U.S. policy-makers in formulating effective African policy, and articulating African perspectives to U.S. policymakers

The Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies
Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies
The is a United States Department of Defense regional study, conference, and research center established in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States on September 4, 1995. The Center supports the United States Pacific Command theater security cooperation strategy of maintaining positive security...

(APCSS) http://www.apcss.org officially opened September 4, 1995, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The APCSS is a regional study, conference and research center with a non-warfighting mission to enhance Asia-Pacific security cooperation through programs of executive education, professional exchange and policy relevant research.
The Center provides a focal point where national officials, decision makers and policy makers can gather to exchange ideas, explore pressing issues and achieve a greater understanding of the challenges that shape the security environment of the Asia-Pacific region.

The Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS) http://www.ndu.edu/chds/ is a premier regional forum offering strategic level defense and security education, research assistance and dialog regarding the development of effective security policy within the Western Hemisphere. The Center’s civilian and military graduates and partner institutions comprise communities of influence that work toward a more cooperative and stable international security environment.

The mission of the Near East-South Asia Center (NESA) http://nesa-center.org/ is to enhance stability in the Near East and in South Asia by providing an academic environment where strategic issues can be addressed, understanding deepened, partnerships fostered, defense-related decision-making improved, and cooperation strengthened among military and civilian leaders from the region and the United States.

External links

George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
Learning to Understand Evil The George C. Marshall Center dedicates itself to countering terrorism – By Mehmet Toprak The Atlantic Times, September 2008
The German Marshall Fund of the United States - Strengthening Transatlantic Cooperation
The German Marshall Fund Blog - Expert Commentary
Garmisch-Partenkirchen's Official website
Alpine Ski Maps.com - winter map of Garmisch-Partenkirchen area
Richard-Strauss-Institut
Virtual Tour through Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Webshots Album of Garmisch Pictures

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Background

MC Resident Courses

Graduate Support

Outreach Programs

Other Programs

Notable alumni

The Research Library

Publications

DSCA Regional Centers

See also

External links