The first annual Security Cooperation (SC) Conference, co-hosted by the Defense Security Cooperation University (DSCU) and The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, examined Security Cooperation in a new era. 

The global security cooperation environment for the United States is increasingly complex and multi-faceted. The end of the war in Afghanistan, the resurgence of state-on-state warfare in Ukraine, and the increasing threat of strategic competitors compel the Department of Defense (DOD) to rethink how the United States cooperates with allies and partners to deter, deny, or defeat threats to national security. The 2022 U.S. National Defense Strategy (NDS) sets out how DOD will contribute to advancing and safeguarding vital U.S. national interests—protecting the American people, expanding America’s prosperity, and realizing and defending our democratic values—through integrated deterrence, campaigning, and actions that build enduring advantages for the future Joint Force. The nation’s network of alliances and partnerships is more important now than it has ever been, with increased competition in new domains (cyber and space), dangerous transboundary threats, novel emerging technologies, and a rise in authoritarianism around the world. This conference explored the extent to which these changes are era-defining, and the implications this has for Security Cooperation.

The conference was organized by DSCU’s then-Research, Analysis, and Lessons Learned Institute in partnership with The George Washington University Elliott School’s Institute for Security and Conflict Studies here.