September 12, 2007:
France has
come up with a clever innovation for training foreign officers. France is
opening a foreign branch of its Saint Cyr Military Academy (École Spéciale
Militaire de Saint-Cyr , or "Special Military School of St Cyr") .
This school is the equivalent of the American West Point, and was founded about
the same time. The first foreign branch will be established in Quatar.
Instruction will be in French and Arabic, and will basically mirror the
instruction given in the original school. Such "French (primary and secondary)
Schools" have long been popular throughout the Middle East, so the concept was
readily accepted and welcomed by the Quataris. France signed a military
cooperation with Quatar in the 1990s, and both nations have been satisfied with
it. On a more practical level, this military cooperation makes it easier to
sell French weapons in the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. has assisted many
nations in opening military academies modeled on West Point. That has appeal
because West Point was established mainly as an engineering school, that also
turned out military officers. In the early 19th century, American officers were
often involved in nation building, in this case their own nation. So that model
appeals to many developing nations.
St Cyr is a more elite school,
and expects many of its graduates to eventually rise to high positions in the
civilian branches of the government. But first, St Cyr graduates get a taste of
military life. Many become career officers, and most do quite well.