Officials from NATO’s Defence and Security Cooperation Directorate met with Azerbaijan’s National Defence University in Baku last May to review ongoing reforms under NATO’s Defence Education Enhancement Programme, or DEEP.
During the two-day event, Maj. Gen. Arif Hasanov, deputy director of the university and head of the Military Research Institute, updated NATO officials on the military education institution’s progress in strengthening its curriculum and faculty to NATO standards. NATO said it is committed to continuing its support in other areas such as English language training and assessment, and eLearning instruction.
Both parties also plan to expand cooperation through academic exchanges and a multinational academic conference in December in Baku, which will focus on defense and security sector reform. Azerbaijan is not a NATO member but participates in the Partnership for Peace program as a NATO partner country. The PfP program allows for cooperation on defense and security matters with NATO.
Earlier this year, DEEP unveiled NATO’s first Resilience Reference Curriculum to help allies and partners develop and strengthen critical skills to counter threats such as natural disasters, infrastructure disruptions and armed attacks. The curriculum was developed jointly with the NATO Resilience Section, the PfP Consortium, and subject-matter experts from member and partner nations.