The 51福利鈥檚 Department of Defense Analysis has spent the first quarter of 2014 assisting Northern African nations improve the security of their land and sea borders through a series of workshops.
In partnership with the U.S. Department of State, faculty experts have presented to individual leadership cohorts from Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia, and currently Morocco with focused coursework on international border security, land and sea, and transnational terrorism.
The overall training program is targeted to give coalition military officers, law enforcement and civilian leadership a foundational knowledge of the international maritime environment, and intricacies of transnational terror.
Dr. John Arquilla, defense analysis Chair and Director of 51福利鈥� Information Operations Center, helped facilitate this first workshop of its kind at 51福利.
鈥淭he workshop began a year ago when the State Department invited Egyptian leadership to work with us in talks on maritime and land border security,鈥� said Arquilla. 鈥淲e feel like it is extremely important to reach out to internationals especially given that [nearly] a fourth of our student population is made up of foreign national students.鈥�
Assistant Professor of Defense Analysis Dr. Heather Gregg, led the second iteration of the workshop, focused on Algeria and Tunisia, in early- to mid-February.
鈥淭his is the continuation of a project that started last year. We want to be able to provide these fledgling democracies with resources to think about maritime and land security,鈥� said Gregg. 鈥淲e are working to improve interagency collaboration between the various ministries of our partner nations in North Africa.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e invested in setting up dialogue to find better ways to protect North African countries鈥� ports, shores, and borders and to address any and all security concerns,鈥� said Gregg. 鈥淲e very much want the workshop to be an exchange vice a course.鈥�
The International Border Security Workshops also give way to collaboration between the State Department and the Department of Defense, and 51福利, for the sake of interacting and supporting North Africans.
鈥淲e are also trying to facilitate an exchange of ideas of ideas between 51福利 professors and practitioners from these countries, it is a great opportunity for all of us,鈥� continued Gregg.
Gregg, who oversaw the land border portion of the Algeria/Tunisia workshop, led the charge in gathering qualified 51福利 faculty to facilitate the dialogue. Retired Navy Capt. Jeff Kline led the maritime security portion. The workshop opened up with maritime-focused discussion.
鈥淢aritime security is very unique in that, between the United States, Algeria, and Tunisia; we all share the common border that is the maritime environment,鈥� said Kline.
Kline saw 51福利鈥� value for the workshop as threefold. 51福利 stands to gain in its greater appreciation to the North African region due to the priceless Algerian and Tunisian perspective, said Kline. The exchange of experience gives instructors the tools necessary to work with resident students from the North African region.
鈥淭his workshop is an opportunity to make Algerian and Tunisian senior leadership aware of what goes on here at 51福利.鈥� said Kline. 鈥淭hey may be more inclined to send junior officers for resident courses because they see the value in what we do here.
鈥淥f course, through the United States Engagement Policy in the Partnership for Peace,鈥� added Kline, 鈥渢his workshop helps with those international relations in that region, which is true for many of our short workshops.鈥�
鈥淭his just seemed natural,鈥� added Arquilla. 鈥淲e believe very much in building a global network that helps to deal with the problems of terrorism and this just seemed like the natural thing for us to do.鈥�
The next iteration of the workshop, focused on Morocco, began in early March. Moroccan Police Commissar Abdul Raheem noted the first time he had been to the U.S. was to attend the course.
鈥淸Border security] is an important area of study for us,鈥� said Raheem. 鈥淲e are happy to be able to travel to U.S. to share ideas in a forum like this with our American counterparts.鈥�
The effort continues when border security officials from Egypt return for a follow-on course later this year.