William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies

William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies

File:William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies Logo.svg Perry Center Seal
Agency overview
Formed	1997
Headquarters	National Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, DC
Motto	Mens et fidis mutua (Mutual understanding and confidence)
Agency executive	Mr. Mark Wilkins, Director
Parent agency	Department of Defense, Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Website	Perry Center [1]

William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies is a U.S. Department of Defense institution for defense and security studies in the Western Hemisphere. Through courses, seminars, outreach, strategic dialogue, and focused research in support of policy objectives, the Perry Center works with senior civilian and military officials from the Americas to build strong, sustainable networks of security and defense leaders and institutions. In so doing, the Perry Center promotes greater understanding of U.S. policy, mutually supportive approaches to security challenges, and improved, sustainable institutional capacity. The Perry Center's programs align with the Office of the Secretary Defense’s global initiative of Security and Defense Institution Building (SDIB).

While the Defense Security Cooperation Agency is the Perry Center's executive agent, the Perry Center also supports other Department of Defense components, such as United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM)

In 2013, The Perry Center was the only federal office to receive an Alfred P. Sloan Award for Workplace Flexibility.

History and Background

The William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (WJPC) was created on September 3, 1997 by then-U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry, who had proposed creating a regional center tailored to the unique requirements of the Western Hemisphere where many countries could strengthen civilian defense and security leadership in revitalized democracies. The Perry Center traces its roots back to the first two Defense Ministerial of the Americas(DMA), where Secretary Perry convened defense ministers from around the hemisphere to discuss shared defense and security issues.

The Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS) opened its doors on September 17, 1997, followed by a two-day Hemispheric Conference on Education and Defense. The Center conducted its first resident course, the Defense Planning and Resource Management Course, in March 1998. The Center also conducted the first of many in-region seminars that year.

On April 2, 2013, the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies was renamed the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies in honor of the Center’s founder, the 19th Secretary of Defense, Dr. William J. Perry.

The Perry Center is co-located at, and maintains an academic relationship with National Defense University at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, DC.

Courses & Programs

Resident Courses

Resident courses form the core of the Perry Center academic program. Conducted in Spanish or English, foundational and specialized courses are designed to meet the evolving needs of sophisticated professionals from the defense and security sectors across the hemisphere. Resident phases are one or two weeks in length and are preceded by a distance learning phase.

• Strategy and Defense Policy (SDP) - The foundational course for Spanish-speakers and consists of a common core covering topics such as policy analysis and planning; defense planning and resource management; cybersecurity; capability-based planning; organizational reform; and security and defense sector reform. Four thematic areas are explored in depth in small group sessions.
• Washington Security and Defense Seminar (WSDS) - Designed primarily for members of the diplomatic corps of countries from the Western Hemisphere accredited to the White House and to the Organization of American States. Participants are exposed to issues and share perspectives on the formation and implementation of U.S. national security and foreign policy, and the dynamics of government decision-making.
• Managing Security and Defense (MSD) - Conceived to build the capacity of senior executives in the security and defense sectors to enable them to better manage their respective sectors through effective policies and integrated decisions. The MSD supports the broader framework of Security and Defense Institution Building (SDIB).
• Caribbean Defense and Security Course (CDSC) - Designed to help participants develop and expand their competence in analyzing issues and challenges in the Caribbean region and then utilize tools of policy, strategy, planning, and resource management to effect reforms in the security and defense sectors.
• Combating Transnational Organized Crime and Illicit Networks in the Americas (CTOC) - The principal objective of this course is to deepen participants’ understanding and analysis of transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and the defense and security threats they pose to the Americas through their illicit activities, which include drug trafficking, money laundering, arms trafficking, human smuggling, counterfeiting, and cyber crimes.
• Defense Policy and Complex Threats (DPCT) - Formulated for security and defense practitioners, the DPCT course presents methodologies and tools that can forecast future security and defense challenges and identify institutional gaps in confronting complex adaptive conflicts. Informed by realistic, data-driven models, policymakers can develop strategic policy guidance that establishes long-term priorities and optimizes resources and forces to better respond to the security needs of both tomorrow and today.
• Strategic Implications of Human Rights and Rule of Law (HR/ROL) - The objectives of this course include deepening the participants’ understanding and analysis of complex topics of human rights, the rule of law, international humanitarian law, military professionalism, and transitional justice.

Regional Seminars

Regional Seminars are held in conjunction with regional partners and are tailored to the specific objectives identified by the Perry Center, the partner institution, and the U.S. embassy team. Regional seminars serve to enhance sustainable institutional capacity, emphasizing support to national and regional policy-makers and leaders.

• Regional Seminar to Combat Transnational Organized Crime and Illicit Networks (CTOC) - Similar to the CTOC resident course, the objective of this seminar is to build capacity and develop a Community of Practice to understand the threats from transnational organized crime, terrorism, and illicit networks and to develop national, regional, and international strategies to promote security and prosperity in combating these threats in Latin America.

Hemispheric Forums

The Hemispheric Forum is a vehicle that takes advantage of the abundance of subject-matter experts and the community of interest in Western Hemisphere affairs. The format of each program is a panel discussion centered on a timely and important topic, with expert panelists representing government, think tanks, and academia. These events are open to the public and are streamed online with simultaneous Spanish interpretation.

Hemispheric Forum topics have included:

• Women in Peace and Security
• Dynamics of FARC Demobilization
• Coping with Opposition to the U.S. in Parts of Latin America
• Corruption in the Western Hemisphere: Impediment to Citizen Security and Democratic Consolidation
• Impact of Energy Developments in the Greater Caribbean Region
• Reducing Violence in Central America: Citizen Security and the El Salvador Experiment
• Security and Defense Challenges Posed by Emerging Technologies in the Americas: Cybersecurity, Drones (Unmanned Systems), and Robotics
• Proposed Thematic Axes: XII Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas (CDMA)
• The Changing Western Hemisphere
• Beyond Convergence: A World Without Order

Alumni

Key to the Perry Center’s mission is relationship-building, as the Center strives to maintain strong relationships with alumni. Maintaining relationships with alumni helps the Center’s professors stay abreast of security and defense developments in countries throughout the region, and also provides opportunities for collaboration and increased regional exposure for the Perry Center. All of the following countries have sent participants to resident events at the Center: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Belize, Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Great Britain, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Pakistan, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Spain, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, and the United States.

Notable Alumni

• His Excellency Brigadier (ret.) David A. Granger, President of Guyana
• Dr. es, Former Minister of Employment and Public Security, Former Uruguay Minister of Defense
• Dr. María Liz García de Arnold Frasquerí, President of Universidad Metropolitana de Asunción Paraguay; Former Minister of Defense
• His Excellency Dr. Nestor Juan Cerón Suero, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to Costa Rica
• His Excellency Mr. Stephen Charles Vasciannie, Former Ambassador of Jamaica to the United States
• Mr. Owen Lloyd Ellington, Former Commissioner of Police of the Jamaica Constabulary Force
• Commodore Roderick Bowe, Former Commander of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force
• General (ret.) Oswaldo Jarrín Roman, Former Ecuadorian Minister of Defense
• Colonel Alvin Eddie Quintyne, Barbados Defence Force Chief of Staff

William J. Perry Award

The William J. Perry Award for Excellence in Security and Defense Education is named after the former U.S. Secretary of Defense who was responsible for the establishment of the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies. Recipients are chosen for having substantially contributed in tangible ways to enhancing capacity in security and defense, building mutually beneficial relationships, and increasing democratic security in the Americas. Nominees may be educators, practitioners, or institutions of defense and security from throughout the Hemisphere, or from outside the region.

Year	Individual Category	Institutional Category
2015	Admiral Vidal Francisco Soberón Sanz, Secretary of the Mexican Navy Professor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, Ph.D.	N/A
2014	Dr. Richard Millett, Professor Emeritus of History, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville	The Inter-American Defense College (IADC) es (CESEDEN)
2013	Dr. Maria Liz Garcia de Arnold, Minister of Defense of Paraguay	es (ESDEGUE)
2012	Mr. Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico Mr. Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence of Canada	The Regional Security System (RSS) The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC)
2011	Mr. Nelson Jobim, Former Minister of Defense of Brazil	The U.S. National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program
2010	Dr. es, Former Minister of Defense of Uruguay GEN John Galvin, USA (ret.), Former Supreme Allied Commander, NATO	es (CESNAV)
2009	N/A	The Strategic Superior Studies College of El Salvador (CAEE)
2008	N/A	es (ANEPE)
2007	N/A	The Strategic Leadership for Defense and Crisis Management Course (CEDEYAC) of Peru http://www.esup.edu.pe/cedeyac.html

Other DSCA Regional Centers

The Perry Center is one of five regionally-focused security studies organizations, all of which are managed by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The other four are:

• Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) http://africacenter.org/
• Daniel Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI-APCSS) http://apcss.org
• George C. Marshall Center for European Security Studies (GCMC) http://www.marshallcenter.org
• Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) http://nesa-center.org

See also

• National Defense University
• William J. Perry
• Defense Diplomacy