2024 Security Cooperation Conference: Building Lasting Partnerships

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The Defense Security Cooperation Agency's (DSCA) directorate, the Defense Security Cooperation University (DSCU) facilitated the third Security Cooperation (SC) Conference, titled "Building Lasting Partnerships: What Have We Learned?" October 28-30, 2024, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. Approximately 450 security cooperation policymakers, scholars, and practitioners convened to bridge scholarship and practical knowledge, aiding the security cooperation workforce to work more effectively and sustainably with allies and partners.

Security cooperation activities are a national security tool of first resort and enable U.S. allies and partners to address shared challenges today and tomorrow.

The 2024 SC Conference kicked off with a reception on the evening of October 27. The reception celebrated the five-year anniversary of DSCU and the organization's many milestones in that short time. In the past five years, DSCU has grown to a team of more than 475 globally dispersed personnel who strive to make DSCU the center of intellectual life for the security cooperation enterprise and the partner of choice for security cooperation program implementation.

The three-day event observed the Chatham House Rule while fostering dialogue, analysis, and critical inquiry to increase collaboration across the Security Cooperation enterprise during and after the forum. Attendees included over 150 U.S. government civilians, over 100 U.S. military members, over 100 civilian researchers, and over 50 representatives from foreign governments and international organizations.

An overarching theme was the generational challenge of the security cooperation enterprise: to develop our security cooperation capabilities, together with those of our allies and partners, to sustain and strengthen an international system to meet tomorrow's threats.

This year's call for proposals focused on the following five issue areas and considered proposals from across the community that formed the various panel sessions and presentations:
• Understanding the Partner
• Navigating Partnership Engagement Dynamics
• Managing Allied Partnerships
• Organizing for Partnership Success
• Partnering in Contested Environments

DSCU holds itself accountable to high standards of security cooperation education and practice by building and using evidence-based knowledge to inform curriculum and professionalize the field of security cooperation. Through events like the annual SC Conference and FMS Symposium, DSCU partners with U.S. government agencies, international partners, and academic institutions to help expand the intellectual foundations and critical inquiry of security cooperation.

Faculty from DSCU's Brigadier General Charles Young Research, Analysis, and Lessons Learned Institute organized the conference. Additional information about annual conferences, including previous conference reports, can be found here: https://dscu.edu/bgcy-ralli/sc-conference.

DSCU greatly appreciates the contributions from all the esteemed participants that took time out of their busy schedules to advance the field of security cooperation during the 2024 SC Conference.

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