Page 36 - The Cormorant 2018
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Regional Security Exercise 1 – Germany Lieutenant Commander Paul Hegarty
ON 13 NOVEMBER 2017, sixty-three bleary-eyed students and staff travelled to Berlin for the first Regional Security Exercise of ACSC21
(RSE1). The objective of this visit was for the students to utilise the previous knowledge they had gained during the initial studies of
global and regional security studies and to apply this as an in-depth and critical methodology in order to conduct an analysis of the German perspective. The cohort was accompanied by
“
Capt Pat Douglas RN (Divisional Director, A Div) and for the duration of the week the group were warmly welcomed by our German colleagues both in the domains of the German Ministry of Defence and political ‘think tanks’.
The programme sought to examine the relationship between the military, state and society while simultaneously gaining a German insight into the geo-strategic factors that regulate and affect inter- state relations. To encapsulate this requirement the programme included visits to the German Bundestag, the German MOD, and the Bundeswehr Operations Command Centre at Potsdam. From a societal perspective there were visits to two independent political ‘think tanks’, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation,
  ...increased
the cohort’s knowledge
and broader understanding of the importance
of defence engagement... ◆◆◆
 with a brief also provided by the Parliamentary Commissioner of the Armed Forces within the Bundeswehr Ombudsman’s Department.
From a political perspective the visit initially provided a unique insight into the functions and roles of the German Bundestag, which was delivered within
the historic walls of the Reichstag and under the dramatic and imposing glass dome that looms
over the Reichstag. The Bundestag building itself provided a stark physical reminder of Germany’s past by displaying the markings and graffiti of WW II yet, conversely, this honest and tacit openness set the tone of the cultural thinking that heavily influences German national and geo-strategic policy making. The briefings and candid discussions with the UK Embassy staff were both reflective of the German policy requirements since the UK decision to leave the EU, yet strategic in the manner in which the embassy and their German colleagues are working to foster and develop both established and new relationships.
RSE1 also allowed an opportunity for the students and staff to become fully immersed in Berlin’s


















































































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