NATO launches reference curriculum for defence institution building
Initially focused on increasing interoperability between NATO and Partner forces, the Alliance’s education and training programmes have been expanded to include defence reform. An important addition to this effort is the recently published Partnership Action Plan for Defence Institution Building (PAP-DIB) Reference Curriculum, which aims to provide NATO Partner countries with comprehensive learning objectives and curriculum support for academic courses focused on reforming or building defence institutions.
The PAP-DIB initiative was launched at the Istanbul Summit in June 2004 to encourage and support Partners in building effective and democratically-responsible defence institutions. Its overall objectives include bringing the armed forces, defence and security-sector institutions under effective democratic and civilian control; making them more accountable and transparent; and ensuring they are appropriately sized, structured and funded to meet the requirements of the new security environment.
The Reference Curriculum is divided into three themes which are directly linked to these objectives: Public Administration and Governance; Defence Management and Economics; and Ethics and Leadership.
This document is the product of a year-long effort by a multinational team of educators[1], and has been designed to serve as a guide for Partner countries seeking to inculcate principles of defence institution building and reform in their future leaders.