The Strategic Relevance of Modern Foreign Internal Defense and Security Force Assistance Initiatives

This article highlights the necessity for the U.S. Department of Defense to increase focus and commitment of resources toward foreign internal defense and security force assistance capabilities. It analyzes reductions in defense resources among simultaneous emergent threats, which predicates the need for increasingly efficient and persistent force multiplication effects abroad. Modern analysis of a successful security cooperation vignette is utilized to conceptualize the potential impacts of effective foreign internal defense efforts, which further enabled export of security cooperation strategy through third party partnerships. This article shows key lessons learned through historical venues among the armed services, which outline imperative considerations in developing future security cooperation programs. It explores various modern approaches utilized by the service components to help illustrate challenges and opportunities, which are helping to shape future partner capacity-building platforms across the armed services.