In partnership with U.S. Africa Command, the Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies conducted Phase I/II of the Tunisian National Defense Institute (NDI) Security Seminar in Tunis, Tunisia, on 9 January 2024. Professor Anne Moisan covered a Strategic Policy Approach for developing this year’s Class Strategic White Paper for the Minister of Defense and the Tunisian President. Dr. Kheira Tarif deep-dived into the class’s assigned MOD theme with a presentation on “The Impact of Climate Change on Security, the Economy and Society.”

This year’s seminar is recognized as being 13th annual Tunisian National Defense Institute Security Seminar. The seminar was refined in FY19 to consist of two phases. The second part of the seminar is scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C., from 17–24 April 2024. The NDI 2023-2024 program is now in its 41st year and consists of approximately 50 Tunisians from as many as 16 ministries and representatives from the President’s Office. The program brings a diverse group of interagency representatives together twice per week for an academic year to advance whole-of-government approaches to critical national security and political challenges. Each class is assigned a unique research theme by the Minister of Defense to be worked in small research groups.

This year’s theme is “National Strategy: The Impact of Climate Change on Security, the Economy and Society.” Phase II/II will focus on the U.S. Government (U.S. State, DoD, and USAFRICOM) and national security; it will also cover a variety of related topics surrounding the class’s theme, such as good governance, rule of law, anti-corruption, public-private partnering, and innovation. Most of the seminar content will be based on the research theme, with experts addressing the class’s assigned theme. The group will also hear from the Wyoming National Guard, various U.S. government officials, think tank regional security experts, and professional strategists.

TNDI guest speaker Dr. Kheira Tarif.

The views presented in this article are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.