2022 Security Cooperation Conference

Hosted by the Defense Security Cooperation University and The George Washington University

The conference will examine the state of security cooperation today, the implications of recent global security trends and demands on the security cooperation enterprise, and explore whether, and how, the Defense Department should adjust its approach to security cooperation in the future. The conference will bring together diverse perspectives from across DoD (policy makers, planners, and practitioners), interagency partners, congress, industry, think tanks, and academia. Speakers will include senior government leaders to help frame the challenges facing DoD and provide opportunities for direct engagement with decision-makers on how the Department should adjust its approach to security cooperation in the future.

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 arguably 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 explores the extent to which these changes are era-defining, and the implications this has for security cooperation.

Schedule of Events

To contact the event hosts at the Defense Security Cooperation University, please email [email protected].

Administrative Notes:

• Dress is business attire for civilians and service dress / Class A for military
• Registration is required to participate or observe the conference due to space limitations
• Following the conference, recorded sessions will be made available
• Participation does not require a conference fee
• Participant travel and meals covered only by exception
• Breaks will include light fare with water, coffee, tea, and juice
• Agenda is subject to change, and participants are encouraged to attend the full day

Speaker Biographies:

Mara E. Karlin is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities. She is responsible for advising the Secretary of Defense and other senior defense leaders on national security and defense strategy; the forces, contingency plans, and associated posture necessary to implement the defense strategy; emerging capabilities; and security cooperation plans and policies, to include strategy and policy for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. 

Dafna H. Rand is the Director of the Office of Foreign Assistance (F) at the Department of State. From 2017-2021, she was the Vice President of Policy and Research at Mercy Corps, a non-governmental organization working in 40 countries to support communities in need. Dr. Rand has a long career in public service: She has served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) and as a member of the Policy Planning staff at the State Department. She also served on the staff of the National Security Council during the Obama administration.

James A. Hursch is a career member of the Senior Executive Service who was appointed as Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on January 2, 2022. DSCA’s mission is to advance U.S. defense and foreign policy interests by building the capacity of U.S. allies and partner nations to respond to shared challenges. DSCA oversees Security Cooperation programs including: Foreign Military Sales, Foreign Military Financing, International Military Education and Training, and DoD Humanitarian Assistance. 

Panelist Biographies:

PANEL 1

Michael J. Mazarr is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. Previously he worked at the U.S. National War College, where he was professor and associate dean of academics; as president of the Henry L. Stimson Center; senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; senior defense aide on Capitol Hill; and as a special assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His primary interests are U.S. defense policy and force structure, disinformation and information manipulation, East Asian security, nuclear weapons and deterrence, and judgment and decision-making under uncertainty. He holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Maryland.

Charles L. Glaser is Professor of Political science and International Affairs and Director of the Elliott School's Institute for Security and Conflict Studies. His research focuses on international relations theory and international security policy. Professor Glaser's book, Rational Theory of International Politics, was published by Princeton University Press in 2010. His research on international relations theory has focused on the security dilemma, defensive realism, the offense-defense balance, and arms races, including most recently "When Are Arms Races Dangerous?" in International Security (2004). His recent publications on U.S. nuclear weapons policy include "Counterforce Revisited" (with Steve Fetter), International Security (2005), and "National Missile Defense and the Future of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy" (with Fetter), International Security (2001). Professor Glaser's work on American Cold War nuclear weapons policy culminated in his book, Analyzing Strategic Nuclear Policy (Princeton 1990). Professor Glaser holds a Ph.D. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He received a BS in Physics from MIT, and an MA in Physics and an MPP from Harvard. Before joining the George Washington University, Professor Glaser was the Emmett Dedmon Professor of Public Policy and Deputy Dean at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He has also taught political science at the University of Michigan; was a visiting fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford; served on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon; was a peace fellow at the United States Institute of Peace; and was a research associate at the Center of International Studies at MIT.

Renanah Joyce is an Assistant Professor of Politics at Brandeis University, where her research spans international security and US foreign policy. Her current research explores the ways that great powers shape security and compete for influence in smaller states. Her book project, which draws on he dissertation, examines security assistance as a great power tool to shape military norms and behavior in partner forces. In other projects, she examines different military and economic tools of statecraft and asymmetric bargaining between both state and non-state actors. She uses mixed methods to address these topics, including survey experiments, interviews, statistical analysis, and archival research. Her work is published or forthcoming in International Security, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of the Middle East and Africa, Political Science Quarterly, and policy outlets including The Washington Quarterly, The National Interest, Lawfare, and PRISM. Her research has been supported by the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Charles Koch Foundation, and the Eisenhower Institute.

Leigh E. Nolan is Principal Director for Global Partnerships, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Policy. Previously, she served as Director for Analysis in the Strategy and Force Development in OSD Policy, and on the leadership team for both the 2022 National Defense Strategy and 2018 National Defense Strategy. She has served as Director for Syria in OSD Policy, Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Council Staff, and as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff. She has taught at Georgetown University and Tufts University, was a Boren Graduate Fellow in Yemen, a Fulbright-Hayes lecturer in Iraqi Kurdistan, and a Fulbright Teaching Fellow in South Korea. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and received her master’s and Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Stephen Tankel is an associate professor at American University and an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. He previously served as a Senior Advisor at the Department of Defense. An expert on terrorism, counterterrorism, and security and military affairs in South Asia, Dr. Tankel frequently advises U.S. policymakers and members of the Intelligence Community on these issues. He has conducted field research in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Lebanon, Pakistan, and the Balkans. Dr. Tankel is the author of numerous works, including With Us And Against Us: How America’s Partners Help and Hinder the War on Terror, and Storming the World Stage: The Story of Lashkar-e-Taiba. He is also a senior editor at War on the Rocks, associate editor of the Texas National Security Review, on the editorial boards of Terrorism and Political Violence, and Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, and a frequent media commentator.

PANEL 2

Jennifer D. P. Moroney is a Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation and has worked for RAND for nearly 20 years. She co-manages RAND's support to the Department of Defense on security cooperation assessment, monitoring and evaluation, institutional capacity building work, and as RAND U.S.’s point person for AUKUS (Australia, UK, U.S. technical mini-lateral). She is heavily engaged in a leadership role in RAND's security cooperation research for many sponsors for the DoD including the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, Air Force, Army, Combatant Commands, Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and the State Department. Dr. Moroney served on the Defense Science Board during 2020 working as a subject matter expert on the security cooperation panel. From 2014-2018, Dr. Moroney served as the inaugural Director of RAND Australia in Canberra. She was the primary point of contact with clients and local Australian partners and was RAND’s senior representative in Australia. Dr. Moroney received her Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Kent, United Kingdom, MA in European Integration from the University of Limerick, Ireland, and BA from Frostburg State University, Maryland.

Alan Gorowitz serves as Assistant Director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy (SPP) at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The SPP Directorate facilitates strategic planning for security cooperation activities, integrating foreign military sales, DoD activities, and State Department grant assistance. In support of U.S. national security objectives, SPP develops and leads the development and review of security cooperation administration and execution policies. SPP conducts partner analysis to identify opportunities for security cooperation enterprise improvements that facilitate foreign partner acquisition of U.S. defense articles and services. SPP promotes comprehensive security cooperation program design that enables allies and partners to select the best solutions and develop the capacity to absorb, apply, and sustain capabilities. Mr. Gorowitz joined DSCA in 2018.

Marc Grinberg is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in The Watson Institute of Public and International Affairs at Brown University. His research focuses on foreign policy statecraft, the causes and consequences of arms transfers, international cooperation, and methods for policy-relevant international relations research. Dr. Grinberg previously served in the US government as special assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State and director (acting), section chief and strategist in the Office of Strategy, Planning, Analysis and Risk at the Department of Homeland Security. He has also worked as Program Director and Congressional Fellow at the Truman National Security Project, as a researcher at the institute for Defense Analyses and as a Legislative Fellow for Congressman Steve Israel. Marc earned a Ph.D. in Political Science at Stanford University in 2021, an M.Phil in Political Theory at Oxford University in 2008 and an A.B. in Politics at Princeton University in 2005. He is a former Presidential Management Fellow and co-founder of The Public Philosopher, a project seeking to inject philosophical analysis into public policy debate.

Alexander B. Downes (Ph.D., University of Chicago, 2004) is Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and co-Director of the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies at The George Washington University. Downes' book, Targeting Civilians in War, was published by Cornell University Press in 2008 and won the Joseph Lepgold Prize awarded by Georgetown University for the best book in international relations published in that year. Targeting Civilians in War previously won the Helen Dwight Reid Award for best dissertation in international relations, law, and politics in 2006 from the American Political Science Association. His second book, Catastrophic Success: Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Goes Wrong was published, also by Cornell, in November 2021. Downes has written on a variety of subjects in international security, including civilian victimization, foreign-imposed regime change, military effectiveness, democracy, coercion, alliances, and solutions to civil wars. His work can be found in journals like the British Journal of Political Science, Civil Wars, International Organization, International Security, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Strategic Studies, and Security Studies, as well as multiple edited volumes.

PANEL 3

Stanley L. Brown is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM).  He previously served as PM’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Programs and Operations and as Director of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement.  Before joining the Department of State, he served 27 years in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot primarily in Special Operations units, but also in assignments at the Department of State including Director of PM’s former Office of International Security Operations and Special Operations Chief in the Office of Counterterrorism. He has a B.A. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and an M.S. from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  He is a graduate of Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College.

Rachel Tecott is an assistant professor in the Strategic and Operational Research Department at the U.S. Naval War College. Her research focuses on security cooperation, organizational behavior, and military strategy and operations. Her current book project examines U.S. efforts to build militaries in partner states. Dr. Tecott holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was a member of the Security Studies Program. Her research has appeared in International Security, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, and War on the Rocks, among other publications.

Joanna Spear is a Research Professor of International Affairs and Director of the FAO Regional Skill Sustainment Initiative at the George Washington University. She was previously Director of the Elliott School’s Security Policy Studies Program and the Founding Director of the National Security Studies Program. Prior to joining GW, she was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. Dr. Spear has held fellowships at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, the Brookings Institution, the Royal United Services Institute, the Institute for Defence and Security Analyses, New Delhi and was a visiting scholar at Chatham House. Dr. Spear has published on a variety of subjects in international security, including arms control, U.S. foreign policy making, post-conflict peace building and arms exports. Her work can be found in Arms Control Today, Contemporary Security Policy, Security Studies, Strategic Analysis, Review of International Studies, and World Politics Review.

Michelle Strucke is Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Partnerships. She is an expert on human rights, humanitarian affairs, and development issues in intersection with conflict. She comes to the role with policy, national security, and practitioner experience from her career in government, and non-profit sectors. From 2014-2021, Ms. Strucke worked for Oxfam America, a global organization working to end the injustice of poverty in more than 90 countries, as a Policy Advisor from 2014-2016, Local Humanitarian Leadership Manager from 2016-2018, and Senior Policy Manager for Aid and Development Finance from 2018-2021. In that capacity, she led Oxfam’s efforts advancing policy and programmatic reforms in US and European development and humanitarian assistance impacting countries in the Middle East, Central America, West Africa, and Southeast Asia. Prior to Oxfam, Ms. Strucke led public affairs for Islamic Relief USA, where she served as public affairs manager and lead United Nations representative, responsible for building the organization’s relationships and leading advocacy with the US government and multilateral institutions. From 2011-2012, she worked for the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) as their first Director of Grants and Policy Advocacy, advocating alongside members of the Syrian diaspora for the protection of medical professionals in Syria, and leading humanitarian, USAID-funded programs in Syria, Jordan and Turkey.