Building National Security One Shipment at a Time

摘要

"The ability of the US to advance its national interests is dependent on the effectiveness of the United States Government (USG) in employing the instruments of national power." However, to successfully employ the instruments of national power a sound and effective strategy must be developed to address the issues we face. One key ingredient to developing an effective strategy is through the arm of security cooperation. The term "security cooperation" was first introduced in 1997 by the Defense Reform Initiative (DRI). Security Cooperation is founded on a tradition of cooperation between the United States and other sovereign nations with similar values and interests in order to meet common defense goals. It consists of a group of programs authorized by the US Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, and the Arms Export Control Act, as amended, and related statutes by which the United States Department of Defense (DOD) or commercial contractor provide defense articles and services in furtherance of national policies and objectives. Many programs exist under the umbrella of security cooperation, each playing a role in enabling security cooperation; one such key program is the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program.