Marshall Center -- Building a network of security expertise

01/12/2008

Through courses and programmes such as its recent conference in Skopje, the George C Marshall Center fosters a regional approach to combating terrorism and other security issues.

By Goran Trajkov for Southeast European Times in Skopje – 01/12/08

"This has been an attempt to encourage discussion and conversation, to understand the nature of the threat today and to think about countermeasures that might be effective in confronting terrorism," Marshall Center Professor Dr. John LeBeau said. [Marshall Center]

Fighting terrorism was the focus of a recent conference organised in Skopje by the George C Marshall European Center for Security Studies. From November 12th to 14th, participants presented the leading views on a variety of terrorism issues, such as evaluating tactics and strategies, building co-operation efforts, tracking the financing of terrorist networks and undermining support for terrorism.

The speakers were Dr Christopher Harmon, director of the Program on Terrorism and Security Studies; Dr John LeBeau, professor of strategy and security studies; and Nichols “Nick” Pratt, Professor of Strategy and International Politics. Participants came from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

LeBeau spoke to Southeast European Times contributor Goran Trajkov during the seminar, discussing the goals of the seminar and, more generally, the vision and purpose of the Marshall Center.

"This particular seminar is of great interest to us, because it is a forum to which we can bring not just our Macedonian friends, but participants from other countries from the region as well, in order to take a focused look at the terrorist and radical challenge that we all confront today," LeBeau said. "The threat to the United States certainly might be different from the threat perceived in Macedonia or Albania, but we are all confronted to some degree with a threat from radical violent elements who wish to do us harm."

Program on Terrorism and Security Studies Director Dr Christopher Harmon addresses participants on the last day of the seminar. [Marshall Center]

"This has been an attempt to encourage discussion and conversation, to understand the nature of the threat today and to think about countermeasures that might be effective in confronting terrorism. That means countermeasures that have either a law enforcement dimension or an intelligence dimension but also an ideological dimension. So we want to try to cover as much as possible in a focused way in three days' time," he said.

"That is why we came to Macedonia, and it is beneficial as well for those of us from the Marshall Center to be able to exchange views with people," LeBeau said. "I haven't come here, nor do my colleagues come here from Garmisch, to say we have all the answers and to tell you the 'truth' about terrorism. I hope that is not how we come across. We are here also to participate and to learn from other participants. So I think it was a good opportunity for people interested in this problem to confront the issues and to tackle it in three days' time."

According to LeBeau, Macedonia and the Marshall Center have had a "very robust, very active and long relationship". Macedonian students attending Marshall Center programmes have contributed to discussions on how to confront al-Qaeda, the challenges facing the Balkan region and the difficulties among different countries in the region, he said, adding that Marshall Center graduates form a network spanning the Balkans.

"It's very gratifying to listen to our Macedonian graduates who are in touch with other classmates from other countries even today, four or five years in some cases after they were at the Marshall Center together," Lebeau said.

US and German defence authorities founded the Marshall Center in 1992 with the goal of promoting democratic values in countries that formerly belonged to the Warsaw Pact or the Soviet Union. It has become a key player in efforts to create a more stable security environment.

Marshall Center Professor Dr John LeBeau (right), one of the Marshall Center professors taking part in the counter-terrorism regional seminar, gives an interview Macedonian Television with the help of interpreter. [Marshall Center]

"The main thesis was that there is a completely new world out there that we are facing. It was a creation designed to instill dialogue and to bring people together in a network that crosses borders” LeBeau said.

"Perhaps the greatest value the Marshall Center has is not simply the programmes we maintain on security studies but also the network of individuals that gets built up. If you have a Macedonian graduate at the Marshall Center and he is on our programme on security studies, he will come back home having met and having been in close contact with counterparts from a number of other countries, and he will come home with a network of contacts and with an exchange of views," he said.

"So the mission of the Marshall Center is not just instruction, but actually to build a long-lasting network that lasts far beyond the time the person is present in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany," LeBeau added.