Doha, Qatar (November 2, 2015) – Perhaps now more than ever, international security depends on closer cooperation between Western and Arab nations. With this in mind, the Partnership for Peace Consortium used the 27-28 October Doha International Strategic Policies Forum (DISP 2015) to formerly announce the availability of defense education curricula in Arabic.

Dr. Raphael Perl, Executive Director of the PfPC, who participated in DISP 2015, said “As we began reaching out to Arabic speaking countries, it became clear that there was a strong interest in our defense education curricula, and so I am thrilled that we are now able to offer curricula in Arabic.”

During DISP 2015, the newly available curricula were presented to Major General Sanad Ali ali-Naimi, Commander of the Qatar Armed Forces Center for Strategic Studies. An additional recipient was Ambassador Dr. Mohamed Said Al Busaidi, Chief of North American Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Sultanate of Oman, who subsequently passed the curricula on to the leadership of Oman’s National Defense College.

Defense education serves as a means to get past cultural differences, by finding a common language during formative years in the classroom. As such, the PfPC envisions Arabic translations of defense education curricula as an important step in bridging Western and Arab defense communities.

The PfPC’s Reference Curriculum (RC) Program is part of the PfPC’s Education Development Working Group (EDWG), that engages with foreign defense education institutions in efforts to achieve educational interoperability between Western and partner nations. To date, the PfPC, in concert with NATO and other partners, has produced curricula on Officer Development, Non-Commissioned Officer Development, and Partnership Action Plan on Defense Institution Building. Previously available in English, Russian, and French, the translation of curricula to Arabic constitutes a major step forward in cooperation between Western defense education institutions and their Arabic counterparts.

Curricula are available online to interested defense education institutions. Moreover, the PfPC assists in implementing curricula in partner institutions through the EDWG as well as the Defense Education Enhancement Program (DEEP).