History of the National Centre of Security and Defence

The National Security and Defence (NCSD) is established as a 'center of excellence' in the area of national security and defence. The development of such a research institution is an MoD priority in support of qualitative reforms in the area of national security and defence, the new situation of NATO membership, and efforts ahead for EU integration.

NCSD is a new "think tank" security and defence institution at the strategic level. Its mission is to support with advanced expertise the Ministry of Defence and all other security institutions (The President, The Prime Minister, The Security and Defence Committee, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Ministry of Interior, The State Information Service, etc.) for formulation of policies, positions, recommendations, and articulating alternative solutions to fundamental issues of security and defence.

NCSD is established by the decree no. 7458, dated 11.05.2012 of the President of the Republic "On the Organization Structure of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Albania", and then activated by the Order no. 356, dated 18.05.2012 of the Minister of Defence "On the transition to the new AAF structure " and the Order no. 432 dated 06.06.2012 of the Minister of Defence "On the Table of Organization and Equipment of the National Center for Security and Defence".

NCSD is created on the basis of the former Center for Defence Analysis (CDA) of the Training and Doctrine Command, which was founded in 2007 as a center for military analysis at the strategic, operational and tactical levels. Through the de-activation of the CDA and the creation of the NCSD, all operational and tactical studies of military spectrum are delegated to TRADOC Doctrine Center, while all other strategic studies of the entire national security spectrum are assigned to NCSD.

The NCSD area of expertise includes issues of security and defence reforms, regional and international security environment, bilateral, regional and wider relations, technological developments, and other issues of NATO and the EU integration. As an institution subordinated to the MoD organization, NCSD budget is funded by the Ministry of Defence under the category of Research - Development (R & D). NCSD personnel consist of research staff, technical staff, and administrative staff. The percentage of research staff compared to the administrative staff is 80% to 20%. NCSD staff is an integrated civilian and military personnel (the military personnel is active or retired). Civilian personnel compared to the military one is at the proportions of 60% to 40%. Team work of joint civilian-military staffs is the basic working method of NCSD.

To accomplish its assigned mission and tasks, NCSD is organized into four departments: Security and International Relations’ Department, Defence Research Department, Technological Research Department, and Cooperation and Publication Department. NCSD, based on the area of expertise of its permanent staff, establishes working groups for specific research projects. Other areas not covered by the expertise of the permanent staff will be covered by part-time experts/researchers. The first NCSD Regulation/ Statute is developed by the Center and approved by the Minister of Defence with the order no. 38 dated 01.10.2013. The NCSD emblem is adopted by the same order together with the NCSD Regulation/ Statute.

NCSD publishes a strategic level research magazine with an ISSN. The first edition of the NCSD Magazine titled "Strategic Vision - Security and Defence Issues", is published in June 2013, with main focus on the proceedings of the conference on maritime security challenges. The magazine is planned to be published three times a year in English and Albanian, in the text format and online. The first important activity of NCSD was the Conference on 'Maritime Security Challenges "held in Tirana from 29 to 30 May 2013. Participants were the defence ministers of the regional countries and their teams and other interested delegations in this field of expertise. The proceedings of the conference are published in the spring edition of the “Strategic Vision” Magazine, and presented online for the interested readers.
On September 1, 2013, based on the Minister's Order no. 1471 dated 07.09.2013, NCSD opened its own web site, where you can find more information about its activities and online research products.

The first NCSD Annual Research Plan is compiled by the NCSD staff considering all the demands of the ‘customers’, such as the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, other line ministries, the National Intelligence Service, etc., and is approved by the Minister of Defence in October 2012, as a research menu for 2013. All demands of security institutions are integrated in a document called the NCSD Annual Priority List for Security and Defence Studies. NCSD 2013 Research Project Plan offers ten types of research products to higher civil and military authorities of Albania. The main types of research products planned for 2013 are: strategic monitoring, case studies, comparative studies, concept development, policy formulation, strategic assessment and analysis, regional studies, technological studies, strategic situation updates, etc. These types of research products are explained in more details in the specific section of NCSD research projects.

The basic principles of research and study in NCSD are:

-  The principle of impartiality and freedom of expression of the opinions of individual authors based on the principle of "Chatham House" for their alternative views;

-  The principle of non-attribution and non-discrimination, where "all the opinions and positions expressed in the research products belong to the author/authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the government and defense institution";

-  The Copyright principle for protection of NCSD products against plagiarism of the others, and respect of the copyright principles when using research products of other authors;

-  Principle of applicative values of all NCSD research products, based on analysis, synthesis, arguments, reliable statistics, critical thinking, logical reasoning and creativity, associated with findings, conclusions and recommendations by the authors.

NCSD research products are subject to the application of various active methods and techniques, such as interviews, questionnaires, surveys, discussions, information analysis, monitoring, and direct participation in specific activities, brainstorming formats, workshops and seminars.

From November 2012, the Director of the NCSD is Gen. Maj. Maksim Malaj, former Chief of Defence of Albania during the period 2008-2011.

To achieve high quality research products, NCSD promotes high quality and performance research staff. It is required special talent, analytical skills, research experience, scientific degree, information analysis, language skills, operational experience, dedication, and other elements, are required to be a member of NCSD research staff

NCSD is located close to the Ministry of Defence in Tirana, Rruga e Dibrës, Tirana, Albania.
The National Centre of Security and Defence has its own logo which is shown in all NCSD research products.

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