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Issue 28: November-December 2003

UNU launches new courses
on strategy and defence

United Nations University (UNU), in cooperation with the Australian National University (ANU), has launched a new programme of Postgraduate Awards Courses. The inaugural session of the Graduate Studies in Strategy and Defence (GSSD) programme was held at UNU Centre, Tokyo, October 14-31 and comprised the following intensive courses:

• Strategic Concepts

• Northeast Asian Security

• Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism

• Intelligence and Security

These courses, which will count towards ANU's prestigious Master Degree and Graduate Diploma, are open to postgraduate students and professionals (with a college or university degree) from Japan and abroad. The courses will provide advanced academic preparation for those seeking careers in security and defence policy, defence force command, diplomacy, corporate strategic planning, international research, journalism, ministerial advising or international agencies.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan praised the GSSD programme calling it an exciting new partnership between UNU and ANU that will prepare students to meet the challenges of the new security agenda in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

"As the international community grapples with the complex demands of today's rapidly changing security environment, the need to constantly train new generations of strategic thinkers has become abundantly clear," the Secretary-General said.

"The programme is also a new chapter in the efforts of the UNU to serve as a globally linked community of scholars engaged in research, postgraduate training and the dissemination of knowledge, dedicated to furthering the purposes and ideals of the United Nations. I very much look forward to the contribution that graduates will make - as experts, policy-makers and concerned citizens - to our ongoing quest for peace, security and development in the 21st century."

Each course consists of approximately 10 two-hour sessions delivered by leading teachers in strategic and security studies of ANU, academic staff of UNU, and eminent university professors from Japan and abroad. The four courses in Tokyo were conducted within the framework of cooperation between UNU and ANU to further develop, promote and deliver ANU's Graduate Studies in Strategy and Defence (GSSD) programme in Northeast Asia. It is envisaged that the UNU/GSSD programme will be offered annually as an integral part of the UNU's training and capacity-building activities.

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

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