What are effective strategies for using Security Cooperation as an instrument of statecraft to advance national defense and foreign policy priorities? In the introduction to the 2022 NDS, the Secretary of Defense states that “the Department of Defense owes it to our All-Volunteer Force and the American people to provide… a clear and rigorous strategy for advancing our defense and security goals.” Additionally, the NDS serves as “a call to action for the defense enterprise to incorporate Allies and partners at every stage of defense planning” as we anchor our strategy in Allies and partners and advancing regional goals (2022 NDS, 14). Not only does DoD owe a national defense strategy for advancing our defense and security goals, DoD also owes Security Cooperation strategies that contribute to implementing the NDS. Historically, our Security Cooperation efforts have lacked the strategic clarity to drive planning, programming, budgeting, and execution for Security Cooperation. Further evidence-based research and critical inquiry—led by DSCU’s Security Cooperation Research and Lessons Learned Institute in collaboration with key stakeholders—will help the Department better understand how best to make choices on strategies informed by a body of knowledge, because the cost of failure is too high for global security and for our armed forces.
Some of the key debates around this topic include (list is illustrative, not comprehensive): • Understanding the extent to which deterrence can be achieved through Security Cooperation • Conditions that have led to Security Cooperation failures and successes in history • Approaches to strategy formulation that yield better (more successful) strategies • Coordination with international partners and regional actors on strategy development • Institutional barriers that prevent effective strategy development • Accounting for unintended effects, negative or positive, of strategy choices • Prioritizing limited resources to buy down risk and/or build stronger partnerships • Addressing crisis response and preparedness across strategies and approaches • Avoiding dependency while enabling solutions • Promoting and enabling like-minded Security Cooperation exporters • Extent to which contested logistics inform Security Cooperation strategic choices • Coordinating and balancing across foreign assistance considerations in the security sector • Barriers to effective intelligence cooperation with partners when developing strategies • The effects of extended lines of communication on Security Cooperation • Logistics coordination and defense industrial base organization