01950nas a2200229   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002260002100043653001600064653000900080653002100089653000900110653000800119653003600127653001900163100002200182700002000204245010800224300001000332490000700342520137100349       2019                            d  cSummer-Fall 201910acooperation10aDEEP10aInteroperability10aNATO10aPME10aProfessional Military Education10aSouth Caucasus1 aKhayal Iskandarov1 aPiotr Gawliczek00aNATO’s Role in Improving Professional Military Education with a Focus on the South Caucasus Countries  a35-440 v183 a<p>The presented article underlines the priority of education and considers the role of Professional Military Education (PME) in enhancing defense capabilities and preparing the military leaders who are able to make strategic decisions and solve complex problems. It emphasizes a PME as a cornerstone of the military build-up. The authors examine the main characteristics of PME and underscore its importance for increasing the interoperability between the NATO allies and the South Caucasus nations. Taking the broad meaning of interoperability into account, the authors attempted to bring to the fore the critical need for increasing the intellectual interoperability with outside expertise. Further, the authors point out the importance of the Defense Education Enhancement Program (DEEP) as a new system for improving PME and building better-integrated forces in the South Caucasus. At the same time, this article identifies factors that will lead towards the enhancement of the relations amongst the South Caucasus nations themselves. The goal is to consider how the South Caucasus countries can more effectively address the challenges in PME and to formulate suggestions and recommendations. Comparative analysis, synthesis, inductive, and deductive methods have been used to produce conclusive outcomes and recommendations for the countries in the region.</p>