Mr. Jahangir Arasli, Marshall Center Graduate of the Month, February 2008
The Marshall Center has named Mr. Jahangir Arasli Graduate of the Month for February 2008.
Mr. Arasli attended the Marshall Center’s Executive Program 1998-1, while serving as a major in the Military Scientific Research Center of the International Relations Department in Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense. In 1999 Mr. Arasli retired from the military service and was subsequentely named as a civilian Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Defense Minister, in which position he continues to serve.
Mr. Arasli attended the NATO Defense College Senior Course in Rome in 2001 and the Defence Management Course at the Royal College of Defence Studies in Cranfield, the United Kingdom in 2004. In 2006, he completed a Geneva Centre for Security Policy Fellowship and then returned to Garmisch as a Marshall Center Scholar. He published the results of his research in “Obsolete Weapons, Unconventional Tactics, and Martyrdom Zeal: How Iran Would Apply its Asymmetric Naval Warfare Doctrine in a Future Conflict,” Marshall Center Occasional Paper No. 10, April 2007.
Mr. Arasli was most recently at the Marshall Center as a member of the Combating Terrorism Working Group of the Partnership for Peace (PfP) Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes. At the group’s September 2007 meeting at the center, Mr. Arasli spoke about his research on terrorist recruitment of converts to Islam. His article “Terrorism and Civil Aviation Security: Problems and Trends,” was published in the PfP Consortium’s journal Connections in Spring 2005.
The knowledge and practical skills gained from the Executive Program, as well as alumni leadership seminars in 2003 and 2006, have been invaluable in dealing with policy, strategy and security-related issues on a daily basis, according to Mr. Arasli via e-mail. “It’s always very helpful whether you participate in an international conference or negotiations, deliver a lecture or presentation or write a research paper on any of the issues mentioned above,” Mr. Arasli said.
Mr. Arasli, a member of the Marshall Center alumni association in Azerbaijan, noted that he maintains contact with many Marshall Center graduates through e-mail and participation in international events. “Virtually, there isn’t a country where I didn’t meet an MC graduate while traveling across the world in recent years,” Mr. Arasli said. “I’m proud to belong to a prestigious network of graduates from this world-known elite training institution.”
Beginning with March 2007, the Marshall Center Graduate Support Office has featured a Marshall Center Graduate of the Month. The purpose of this initiative is to feature Marshall Center alumni who are playing an active role in furthering the ideals of the Marshall Center in creating a more stable security environment by advancing democratic institutions and relationships; promoting active, peaceful security cooperation; and enhancing enduring partnerships among the nations of North America, Europe, Eurasia, and beyond.
