Latest News - Defense Security Cooperation University

In April 2019, the Institute for Security Governance (ISG) was established by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) as the Department of Defense's Center of Excellence for Institutional Capacity Building (ICB). Despite the global pandemic, which hit just eight months into its transition from the Center for Civil-Military Relations (CCMR), ISG forecasted 413 Advising engagements and 98 Education events with 75 Partner Nations in FY21 alone.

ISG's Emergency Management and Resilience (EM&R) team conducted a virtual workshop in support of partnership with the Republic of Serbia from 10-11 March 2021. This workshop was the first in a series of two this year with the focus on emergency management arrangements and cooperation mechanisms between various ministries, agencies, and organizations for the receipt and/or delivery of international disaster assistance.

An ISG team led by Bob Tomasovic successfully supported the 16th iteration of Yudh Abhyas 2020 (YA20) (a bilateral exercise between the armies of India and the US) from 8-20 February 2021 in Rajasthan, India. The Command Post Exercise (CPX), built on the mutual, strategic objective to strengthen the alliance between the US and India, sought to enhance the level of defense cooperation among both armies, enable security cooperation efforts, foster bilateral relations, and reiterate India’s critical role as a key partner in the Indo-Pacific region.

Thomas-Durell Young, Senior Lecturer in European civil-military relations with the Education and Professional Practice (EPP) Division of the Institute for Security Governance (ISG), recently published an article titled "Capabilities-Based 'Confusion': Why Capabilities-Based Planning Systems Struggle" in The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis on the complexities of defining, implementing, and measuring the success of capabilities-based planning systems.

The Institute for Security Governance (ISG) conducted a virtual workshop in support of the partnership between the Nebraska National Guard (NENG) and the Republic of Rwanda from 13-15 January 2021. The workshop aimed to enhance NENG's understanding of the historical and socio-political context of their partner, provide guidance on US priorities for the country, and establish a framework for working with the Rwanda Defence Forces, setting the stage for a review and discussion of potential areas of cooperation between state and country.

The Institute for Security Governance (ISG) has released its first set of “Smart Sheets” on Institutional Capacity Building (ICB). These sheets fulfill the need for clear and concise information about ICB that provides key concepts and offers smart solutions. The Smart Sheets offer a standardized response to frequently asked ICB questions and represent the first set of easily accessible, cornerstone documents developed by a team of ISG experts and drawn from applied and field-tested efforts.