The Professional Training Program, in cooperation with the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), recently partnered with the Polish Ministry of National Defense to conduct a five-day Professional Development and SENSE Training Workshop at the Polish Academy for National Defense in Warsaw.
The Professional Training Program, in cooperation with the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), recently partnered with the Polish Ministry of National Defense to conduct a five-day Professional Development and SENSE Training Workshop at the Polish Academy for National Defense in Warsaw. This program was part of an effort to provide the Academy with the permanent capability to conduct SENSE training for a wide variety of audiences in Poland and across the region.
During the first two days, Vice President for Professional Training Mike Lekson and Senior Program Officer Nina Sughrue provided skills-based training in conflict analysis and resolution, negotiation styles and techniques, and the roles of third parties in aiding the peaceful resolution of conflicts. The participants were then given an opportunity to apply these skills by taking part in the sophisticated computer-based SENSE simulation. Dr, Allison Frendak of George Mason University (a USIP intermittent Program Officer) led the simulation, which focuses on negotiations, coalition-building, and the need for coordinated decision-making in a country in transition. Through the course of the simulation, participants are presented with immediate feedback illustrating the effect of their decisions.
Polish Minister of National Defense, Radoslaw Sikorski visited the Academy to meet with representatives from USIP and IDA, and was provided a tour by Dr. Frendak of the SENSE simulation while in progress.
Participants were largely from Moldovan ministries, NGOs and the business community, as well as a number of citizens of Ukraine. A staff of Poles from Warsaw University and the Academy for National Defense also participated; many of them will comprise the staff of trainers that will conduct the SENSE simulation for the Academy of National Defense, once the capability has been successfully transferred. Administrative and logistical support for the workshop was coordinated by Senior Program Assistant Josh Erdossy.
