HONOLULU – The first “Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction Course” graduated from the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu on September 15.

More than 25 senior military and civilian government leaders from 17 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region that attended the three-week course to study regional security.

The Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies is a Department of Defense regional study, conference and research center.  The center’s mission is to educate and develop leaders to advance strategic communications and security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Countries represented at the course were: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, United States, and Vietnam.

The Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction course takes a comprehensive approach SSTR operations and activities.  Course content focuses on three broad topic areas:

(1) pre-conflict/pre-complex emergency condition-setting, (2) post-conflict/post-complex emergency transitions and (3) post-conflict/post-complex emergency reconstruction.  It also addresses basic definitions and types of stability operations, coalition building and inter-agency coordination, interventions and occupations, post-conflict/post-complex emergency reconstruction steps, transition planning, and strategic communications, among other supporting topics.  The course is designed to impart vital knowledge as well as to develop leaders’ skills and frameworks in order to improve the effectiveness of SSTR practitioners. 

To date, the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies has more than 2,700 Fellows, from around the world; attend the courses at the Center.  The Center has also hosted, or co-hosted, 112 conferences with more than 6,700 participants from 66 countries.