Policy Forum

When Is Foreign Internal Defense (FID) a Smart Policy Tool for Washington?

July 14, 2014 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM EDT

Hayek Auditorium

Featuring David S. Maxwell, Associate Director, Center for Security Studies & Security Studies Program, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University; Sean McFate, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; Vanda Felbab‐Brown, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, The Brookings Institution; and James B. Story, Director, Office of Western Hemisphere Programs, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S. Department of State; moderated by Jennifer Keister, Visiting Research Fellow, Cato Institute.

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In an era of fiscal constraints and concerns about direct military involvement abroad, helping others defend themselves is an attractive option to address America’s global security concerns. Efforts to train, equip, and advise partner nations are elements of foreign internal defense (FID) policies. But when is FID a smart tool? Does FID produce more effective and self‐sufficient partners, at lower political and financial costs to Americans? Or, does FID pull the United States into local fights, and risk outsourcing U.S. security interests to partners with limited capabilities and whose political interests may not align with ours? Please join us as the panelists discuss these and other questions.