Manama: A research and essay competition to pay tribute to Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz has been established by Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The monarch who died early on Friday is credited with modernising the Saudi military when he was commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard from 1963 until 2005, the year he succeeded his brother Fahd as the king of the vast country.
Dempsey said the essay competition is a fitting tribute to the life and leadership of the Saudi Arabian monarch, an article in the US Department of Defence said. The competition will be hosted by the National Defence University (NDU).
“This is an important opportunity to honour the memory of the king, while also fostering scholarly research on the Arab-Muslim world, and I can think of no better home for such an initiative than NDU,” Dempsey said in a statement.
The writing competition will focus on issues related to the Arab-Muslim world and is designed to encourage strategic thinking and meaningful research on a crucial part of the world.
Officials reportedly said that the programme would be ready at NDU in the next academic year.
According to the article, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Frederick M. Padilla, the president of the National Defence University, welcomed the opportunity to challenge future students while honouring the late king.
“This scholarly research competition presents NDU students with a unique opportunity to focus their research and writing efforts on relevant issues at the intersection of US security interests and the Arab-Muslim world,” he said.
Gen. Dempsey first met the King while serving in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 2001 to 2003.
“Serving in Saudi Arabia more than a decade ago, I had the opportunity to get to know King Abdullah, who was then the commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard,” he said. “In my job to train and advise his military forces, and in our relationship since, I found the king to be a man of remarkable character and courage,” Dempsey said, quoted by the NDU statement.
Maj. Gen. Frederick M. Padilla, 15th president of the National Defence University, welcomed the opportunity to challenge future students while honouring the late King.
“This scholarly research competition presents NDU students with a unique opportunity to focus their research and writing efforts on relevant issues at the intersection of US security interests and the Arab-Muslim world,” Padilla said.
NDU said in its statement that it supports national security by providing rigorous professional military education to develop strategic leaders who have the ability to operate and think creatively in a complex and unpredictable world.
The institution’s student body is comprised of US military officers, civilians and senior enlisted; officers and senior officials from allied nations and other federal agencies; and executives from industry.
In addition to US military and government students, NDU hosts more than 100 international and allied students, representing more than 90 countries.
NDU is composed of the College of International Security Affairs, the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, the Information Resources Management College, the Joint Forces Staff College, and the National War College. NDU also is home to the CAPSTONE senior leader development programmes and the Institute for National Strategic Studies, and partners with the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, the Near East South Asia Centre for Strategic Studies, and the Perry Centre for Hemispheric Defence Studies.
