About the Embassy
George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies (http://www.marshallcenter.org) was founded on June 5, 1993 to help promote security and democracy in post-Cold War Europe. The Center’s mission is to assist countries of Central Europe and the former Soviet Union in developing defense institutions compatible with democratic processes, market economics, and civilian control by:
- Providing defense education
- Conducting research on security issues
- Holding conferences and seminars
- Providing Foreign Area Officer and language training
- Supporting NATO activities.
The center has three core courses. Each is held 2-3 times per year. The core courses include:
1. Senior Executive Course. This is a two-week, high intensity course, consisting of lectures, simulations, case studies, and discussions. Each course is specifically designed to address a unique set of security issues that will be of particular interest to senior executives who are responsible for managing those issues at the national level. The courses are modeled on a seminar concept and oriented toward practical problem-solving in the areas of Democratic Defense Management and Trans-National Security concerns. The audience for each course is Flag Officer, Ambassadorial level, or equivalent senior executives from parliaments and ministries, and other highly influential civilian government officials.
2. Executive Course. This is a fifteen-week course combining lectures, seminars, case studies, and hands-on exercises designed to develop intellectual compatibility with the thinking of developed democracies. The course requires written papers and oral presentations to challenge individual understanding of democratic defense management and regional security issues. English and German language instruction, as well as computer courses, will be offered in addition to the core curriculum. The course usually includes a one-week field study visit to the United States and another week in Brussels. The course concludes with a one-week capstone exercise, requiring each national group to present a series of detailed, computer-assisted briefings on a proposed national security strategy, national military strategy, and future force structure under realistic fiscal constraints. The audience for this course is executive-level national security officials, including civilian executives, military and police officers at the rank of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel, and other officials from Parliaments, Ministries of Defense, Foreign and Internal Affairs, military and police academies, and other government agencies.
3. "Leaders for the 21st Century". This nine-week, managerial level course is a combination of lectures, seminars, case studies and hands-on exercises conducted over two, four-week modules. It includes a one-week long field study to a NATO regional command and a capstone exercise. Advanced seminars are also offered, as are German and English language and computer familiarization courses, in addition to the core curriculum. Formal oral presentations and short papers are also required. The audience is mid-level national security officials, other members of national security establishments, instructors from police and military academies, and military and police officers in the rank of Major or Captain only. Lieutenant Colonels and above are restricted from attending this course.
In addition to the core program, the Marshall Center holds extra-curricular, special-topic seminars and conferences throughout the year. These often cover topics requested by an attending country.
Croatia has been the site of five Marshall Center conferences, on the following topics: public relations in a defense and security environment (Dubrovnik, March 2000), defense planning (Makarska, May 2001), national security strategy (Plitvice, March 2002), defense forces reform (Plitvice, October 2002), and harmonizing efforts in Southeast Europe, for NATO membership (Dubrovnik, November 2003)
Croatian participation in Marshall Center activities began with attendance at the Executive Course that met in August 1995. There are currently over 92 Marshall Center Core Course alumni from Croatia.
Croatian participation in Marshall Center courses and events is jointly managed by the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Croatia.