Melissa Dalton

is a senior fellow and deputy director of the CSIS International Security Program (ISP) and director of the Cooperative Defense Project (CDP). Her CDP research focuses on reinforcing the principled foundations of U.S. defense policy and military operations. She also frequently conducts research and writes on security cooperation with allies and partners and U.S. defense policy in the Middle East. Prior to CSIS, she served in a number of positions at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2007 to 2014. She most recently was a senior adviser for force planning, where she contributed to the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review and DoD’s planning guidance.

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U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Lauren Falk 5th MEB COMCAM: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/2591254/eager-lion-2016-air-support-training
Analysis / Reform

Implementing Security Cooperation Reform to Maximize U.S. Competitiveness Abroad

Security cooperation enables the United States to deepen its global alliances and partnerships in pursuit of common security objectives. It will be critical to ensure FY17 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) reform provisions retains the U.S. competitive advantage globally through its network of alliances and partnerships. This analysis provides recommendations for the Trump administration to consider during security cooperation reform.

Photo by Mstyslav Chernov, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
Analysis / Strategy

Strengthening the Counter-ISIS Strategy

President-elect Trump has stated his intention to strengthen the U.S. approach to defeating the Islamic State (ISIS). The biggest challenge will be developing a sustainable strategy to prevent future terrorist groups from taking root. The United States will need a strategy that synchronizes the right mix of military forces and non-kinetic tools to achieve this outcome. This paper proposes changes the administration should implement as it develops its counter-ISIS strategy.

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