May 6, 2020 | BY C. Todd Lopez , DOD News
Strengthening alliances and attracting new partners is one
of the National Defense Strategy's lines of effort, and the Defense Security
Cooperation Agency is a large part of that effort.
Attracting new partners doesn't get as much discussion as it
should, but that doesn’t mean the Defense Department or DCSA hasn't been
effective in meeting the requirement, the agency’s director said.
"The initial instructions that I received upon taking
this position were, we were to push forward and adhere to line of effort two in
the National Defense Strategy, which is, strengthening alliances and attracting
new partners," Army Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper said during a discussion with
the Atlantic Council yesterday.
Hooper said attracting new partners is something DCSA takes
as seriously as every other mission for which it is responsible, and that the
U.S. effort at growing alliance relations is strong.
"I will tell you that I've seen a strengthening of our
existing alliances and relationships," he said. "And I'm proud to say
that I've seen efforts by countries not normally aligned with the United States
that are moving in our direction to align with us. I've seen us attracting new
partners. So I'm very optimistic about it. I think it's strong, and I think
it's so strong that we're attracting new partners."
One reason, Hooper said, is the way the United States
conducts partnership agreements, noting that DSCA operations are driven by four
principles: transparency, responsiveness, integrity and commitment.
"Transparency in everything that we do. ... The United
States is the only great power where the entire menu and procedure for
procuring weapons and equipment is online and a matter of public domain and
public record," he said.
The United States also is fast in responding to partner
needs, he said, and conducts relations with an integrity that's unmatched by
other potential partners.
"The integrity of the U.S. approach to security
cooperation ... is virtually incorruptible," the general said. "I
like to tell many of my interlocutors, counterparts and defense ministers that
I deal with [that] when you do business with the United States, the books are
always open for inspection."
The U.S. approach to partnership differs from other great
powers in that the United States enters relations with partner and allied
nations with more than simple sales or profit in mind, Hooper said, adding that
the United States enters such partnerships with long-term relations in mind.
"I think that that is one of the most unique
characteristics of this very American approach to security cooperation,"
he said.
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