Photo By Karlheinz Wedhorn | Participants from the George C. Marshall Center’s 2025 Program on Regional Security...... read more read more
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Courtesy story by: Tessa Marina Müller, PRSS25 participant and Marshall Center intern
Over the course of five weeks, the Marshall Center brought together more than 70 participants from 50+ countries for the PRSS course in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Through lectures, seminars, and individual research, the course provided space for meaningful exchange and professional growth.
The Program on Regional Security Studies was an enriching and truly international experience.
Early in the program, we were introduced to our “Individual Study Task,” a policy brief focused on current security challenges in our home countries. Having the chance to develop policy recommendations and potentially publish our work was a strong source of motivation throughout the course.
The program began with a well-structured theoretical introduction to regional security, followed by carefully selected expert sessions on European security, the EU-NATO relationship, and Europe’s eastern, southern, and northern flanks. These inputs were insightful and well-curated. What truly stood out for me, however, was the work in the seminar groups.
These small, diverse groups quickly became the heart of our learning experience. After each lecture, we gathered to exchange perspectives, challenge assumptions, engage in productive discussions, and connect global topics to local realities. These were spaces of honesty, depth, and genuine collaboration, expertly guided by our seminar leaders, who created an open and structured learning environment.
Later in the course, each seminar group collaborated on a regional project, which deepened our cooperation and expanded our understanding of a region that was unfamiliar to us. It was very rewarding to see our ideas take shape and come to life during the final plenary sessions.
What made the experience even more meaningful were the evening events and free time together. From the Bavarian Night to weekend hikes and shared dinners in town, these informal moments built trust and connection. Over time, colleagues became friends.
The final presentations of our policy briefs within the seminar groups tied the whole experience together. It was rare and valuable to hear directly from participants about the security challenges in their own countries, perspectives we often don’t encounter in day-to-day policy discussions.
Saying goodbye was emotional. Five weeks may not seem long, but what we experienced together will stay with us for a long time.
| Date Taken: | 04.18.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.22.2025 08:01 |
| Story ID: | 495733 |
| Location: | DE |
| Hometown: | GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, BAYERN, DE |
| Web Views: | 6 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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