Program description¹

The Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS) is a relatively new educational institution at the National Defense University, a Defense Department school in Washington, D.C. Its mission is "to develop civilian specialists in defense and military matters by providing graduate level programs in defense planning and management, executive leadership, civilian-military relations and interagency operation."² 

The CHDS originated from discussions held at the first Defense Ministerial of the Americas meeting in July 1995 in Williamsburg, Virginia. According to materials distributed at the Center's September 1997 inaugural, "participating defense leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean asked the United States for assistance in improving civilians' competence in defense and military matters."³

The center's first group of fellows began a three-week course in March 1998. Its student body is roughly half government civilians, one-quarter nongovernmental civilians, and one-quarter military personnel. Civilian students must be college graduates whose work in the executive, legislative, academic, media or nongovernmental organization communities involves defense-related duties. An estimated five students per country per year are expected to attend. The CHDS also plans to offer seminars in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The CHDS conducts the following programs:

• Resident Courses: Three week long seminars focusing on "civilian leadership; defense organization; administration of budget, personnel and material... oversight, interagency and executive-legislative relations"
• Senior Leader Seminars: shorter courses accommodating senior government executives and legislators with defense responsibilities
• Research and Education in Defense and Security Studies (REDES) Seminars: an annual seminar with the purpose of gathering "specialists from throughout the hemisphere to exchange information on research projects, new teaching methodologies, and new approaches to defense studies and education"
• In Region Seminars: Short seminars at sites in Latin America and the Caribbean, which "focus on themes identified in partnership with local hosting institutions;"
• Outreach, Research and Distributive Education Program: focus on "making information on defense studies available through the Internet ... [to] encourage innovative research and writing on Western Hemisphere defense themes by Latin Americans"⁴

The curriculum of the "Resident Courses" follows the scheme outlined below.⁵

The establishment of the CHDS coincides with increased interest in the issue of civilian control of the military and, along with Expanded IMET courses, is intended to enhance civilian capacity for oversight and analysis of defense issues.

The 1999 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amended section 2165 of Title 10, U.S. Code to allow the use of Latin American Cooperation funds to support the CHDS. (Title 10 is the part of U.S. law dealing with the military, while section 2165 applies to the National Defense University.) Latin American Cooperation funds, authorized by section 1050 of Title 10, allow the secretary of defense or the secretary of a military department to "pay the travel, subsistence, and special compensation of officers and students of Latin American countries and other expenses that the Secretary considers necessary for Latin American cooperation."

 

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Core seminar students to date, 2002:¹⁵

	Months
	Oct-01	Jan-02	Apr-02	Jul-02
Fellows	63	65	52	56
Countries	17	19	20	14
Females	13	13	13	8
Military Personnel	13	11	18	14
Govt. Civilians	32	36	23	30
Non-govt Civilians	17	18	11	12
Waiting List				5

 

Core seminar students to date, 2001:¹²

	Months
	Jan-01	Mar-01	Jun-01	Jul-01
Fellows	57	57	36	42
Countries	14	14	11	16
Females	17	17	3	7
Military Personnel	13	12	13	14
Civilians	44	45	23	28
Govt. Civilians	30	35	13	18
Non-govt Civilians	14	10	10	10

Core seminar students, 2000:¹⁰

	Months
	Jan-00	Mar-00	Jun-00	Sep-00
Fellows	35	57	50	59
Countries	13	12	17	18
Females	8	6	11	11
Military Personnel	9	13	14	14
Civilians	26	44	36	45
Govt. Civilians	16	32	30	29
Non-govt Civilians	10	12	6	16

Core seminar students, 1999:⁹

	Months
	Jan-99	Apr-99	Jun-99	Aug-99
Fellows	34	34	24	40
Countries	11	12	12	17
Females	8	4	4	4
Military Personnel	7	8	9	7
Civilians	25	26	3	10
Govt. Civilians	18	17	12	23
Non-govt Civilians	9	9	0	7

1999 demographics:⁷

• 286 fellows (includes 17 participants in a one-week seminar for Washington-based diplomats and attachés);
• All Central and South American countries, plus 11 Caribbean nations, Mexico, Canada, and the United States;
• 49 females (17 percent);
• 69 senior military members (24 percent); and
• 217 civilians (76 percent):
  • 151 government civilians (53 percent)
    (Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Legislators, Legislative Staff, Law Enforcement, Public Security)
  • 66 non-government civilians (23 percent)
    (Academics, media, "think tank" members, journalists).

 

Core seminar students, 1998:⁶

	Months
	Mar-98	May-98	Jul-98	Aug-98
Fellows	33	33	33	38
Countries	10	11	16	13
Females	4	6	10	5
Military Personnel	8	8	9	6
Civilians	25	25	24	32
Govt. Civilians	17	16	19	20
Non-govt Civilians	8	9	5	12

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Participating Countries by Course 2002:¹⁴

					FY 2002
		Resident Courses
	DPRM	DPRM	DPRM	ECON	IADC	REDES	SLS	DIP	Onsites	Comments	Totals by
COUNTRY	OCT	JAN	APR	JUL	MAY	AUG	AUG	SEP	various dates	about onsites	country
Antigua and Barbuda			4			1					5
Argentina	5	4		7	1	29	11	4			61
Bahamas											0
Barbados			1								1
Belize			1								1
Bolivia	2	3		4	1	8	10	1			29
Brazil	9	5	4	8	4	87	9				126
Chile	5	8		7	3	23	10	4			60
Colombia	6	6	3	9	6	6		3	77	35 in NOV, 42 in JUN	116
Costa Rica	3	3		1		2					9
Dominica			1								1
Dominican Republic	1	2			2	2			75	18-22 MAR 02	82
Ecuador	5	4	1	4	4	7	3	3	120	20-24 MAY - White Paper	151
El Salvador	1	3	1		1	3		2			11
Grenada											0
Guatemala	3	2	2	2	2	8		1	43	October	63
Guyana			7		1	3					11
Haiti		2	5	1		1					9
Honduras	1		2		1	4		1			9
Jamaica			5			2					7
Mexico	3	3	1	1	3	8		1			20
Nicaragua		2		1		3		1			7
Panama	1	2				4		1			8
Paraguay	6	6	1	3		5	11				32
Peru	4	5		2	4	12	3	3	200	Peru comments - 5 onsites	233
St. Kitts and Nevis			3							with 41 people; plus one w/71;	3
St. Lucia								1		plus five with 38; plus one	1
St. Vin. & Gren.						1				w/50 = 200	1
Suriname			3			2					5
Trinidad and Tobago			2			2					4
United States		1	3		13	42	4	2			65
Uruguay	5	2			1	12	100	2			122
Venezuela	2	2		3	12	10					29
TOTAL	62	65	52	53	61	288	161	31	515		1288
Legend:
DPRM = Defense Planning and Resource Management Course
ECON = Defense Economics and Budgeting Course
IADC = Amistad Program with the Inter-American Defense College
DIP = Seminar for Washington-based Diplomats and Attaches
REDES = Research and Education in Defense and Security Studies
SLS = Senior Leader Seminar

 

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Participating countries, 2001:¹³

Participating countries, 2001:13
Country	Total	Government Civilians	Non-Government Civilians	Military or Police	Male	Female
Antigua and Barbuda	5	1	1	3	3	2
Argentina	16	7	3	6	15	1
Bahamas	1	0	0	1	1	0
Barbados	3	0	0	3	3	0
Bolivia	15	7	3	5	14	1
Brazil	11	5	5	1	8	3
Canada	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chile	10	5	4	1	9	1
Colombia	23	13	3	7	11	12
Costa Rica	5	4	1	0	3	2
Dominican Republic	1	0	0	1	1	0
Ecuador	9	8	0	1	6	3
El Salvador	9	5	0	4	5	4
Guatemala	8	2	5	1	6	2
Guyana	6	0	3	3	6	0
Haiti	7	4	1	2	5	2
Honduras	6	1	1	4	5	1
Jamaica	5	0	1	4	4	1
Mexico	10	6	3	1	10	0
Nicaragua	4	0	2	2	4	0
Panama	3	3	0	0	3	0
Paraguay	8	3	3	2	6	2
Peru	9	4	2	3	7	2
Suriname	3	0	0	3	3	0
United States	2	2	0	0	1	1
Uruguay	7	3	3	1	7	0
Venezuela	5	5	0	0	1	4
Total	191	88	44	59	147	44

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Participating countries, 2000:¹¹

Participating countries, 2000:11
Country	Total	Government Civilians	Non-Government Civilians	Military or Police
Antigua and Barbuda	4	3	0	1
Argentina	9	1	2	6
Bahamas	1	0	0	1
Barbados	5	2	1	2
Belize	0	0	0	0
Bolivia	7	4	2	1
Brazil	9	3	2	4
Canada	1	1	0	0
Chile	5	2	1	2
Colombia	16	7	1	8
Costa Rica	2	1	1	0
Dominica	2	2	0	0
Dominican Republic	3	1	0	2
Ecuador	7	2	1	4
El Salvador	10	7	3	0
Grenada	3	3	0	0
Guatemala	4	4	0	0
Guyana	7	3	2	2
Haiti	0	0	0	0
Honduras	4	2	1	1
Jamaica	4	2	1	1
Mexico	4	1	1	2
Nicaragua	3	3	0	0
Panama	2	1	0	1
Paraguay	3	1	0	2
Peru	5	1	2	2
St. Kitts and Nevis	2	1	0	1
St. Lucia	0	0	0	0
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	1	1	0	0
Suriname	4	3	1	0
Trinidad and Tobago	3	2	0	1
United States	3	0	0	3
Uruguay	6	2	3	1
Venezuela	3	2	1	0
Total	142	68	26	48

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Participating countries, 1999:⁹

Participating countries, 1999:9
Country	Total	Government Civilians	Non-Government Civilians	Military or Police	Male	Female
Antigua and Barbuda	2	1	0	1	1	1
Argentina	9	5	1	3	8	1
Bahamas	0	0	0	0	0	0
Barbados	4	1	0	3	4	0
Belize	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bolivia	6	4	0	2	5	1
Brazil	5	0	4	1	4	1
Canada	3	1	1	1	3	0
Chile	9	4	3	2	9	0
Colombia	6	1	0	5	6	0
Costa Rica	7	2	4	1	6	1
Dominica	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dominican Republic	5	3	2	0	3	2
Ecuador	4	4	0	0	3	1
El Salvador	5	2	3	0	4	1
Grenada	2	0	0	2	2	0
Guatemala	5	2	2	1	4	1
Guyana	1	0	0	1	1	0
Haiti	0	0	0	0	0	0
Honduras	4	3	0	1	4	0
Jamaica	2	0	0	2	2	0
Mexico	7	4	3	0	5	2
Nicaragua	3	2	1	0	3	0
Panama	5	4	0	1	4	1
Paraguay	6	4	2	0	5	1
Peru	7	3	2	2	7	0
St. Kitts and Nevis	2	0	0	2	2	0
St. Lucia	0	0	0	0	0	0
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	2	0	0	2	2	0
Suriname	3	1	1	1	1	2
Trinidad and Tobago	0	0	0	0	0	0
United States	2	0	0	2	2	0
Uruguay	7	4	1	2	3	1
Venezuela	9	5	1	3	8	1
Total	132	60	31	41	114	18

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Participating countries, 1998:⁸

Participating countries, 1998
Country	Total	Government Civilians	Non-Government Civilians	Military	Male	Female
Antigua and Barbuda	1	1	0	0	0	1
Argentina	9	4	3	2	9	0
Bahamas	2	0	0	2	2	0
Barbados	4	2	0	2	3	1
Belize	1	0	0	1	1	0
Bolivia	8	6	1	1	5	3
Brazil	6	2	4	0	5	1
Chile	4	2	1	1	4	0
Colombia	7	4	1	2	5	2
Costa Rica	4	4	0	0	3	1
Dominica	1	1	0	0	1	0
Dominican Republic	4	0	3	1	3	1
Ecuador	7	2	3	2	7	0
El Salvador	5	2	1	2	3	2
Grenada	1	1	0	0	1	0
Guatemala	4	2	1	1	4	0
Guyana	4	3	0	1	4	0
Haiti	0	0	0	0	0	0
Honduras	6	4	1	1	4	2
Jamaica	4	1	2	1	3	1
Mexico	3	1	2	0	3	0
Nicaragua	5	2	3	0	5	0
Panama	7	5	1	1	7	0
Paraguay	8	5	0	3	8	0
Peru	6	2	3	1	5	1
St. Kitts and Nevis	1	1	0	0	1	0
St. Lucia	2	2	0	0	2	0
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	0	0	0	0	0	0
Suriname	3	2	0	1	2	1
Trinidad and Tobago	4	3	0	1	1	3
Uruguay	6	4	1	1	5	1
Venezuela	6	4	1	1	2	4
Total	133	72	32	29	108	25

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Funding

The Center's operating budget in 1997 was $2 million, all of it used to establish the school. With the arrival of its first students in 1998, the CHDS budget was to rise to $3.2 million.

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Other sites

• CHDS homepage, National Defense University

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Source:

¹United States, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, documents from inaugural conference for the CHDS (Washington, September 1997).

² Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies: Understanding and Mutual Trust (United States, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, Washington, 1998).

³ Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies.

⁴United States, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, 2002 Annual Report (Washington: September 14, 2002).

⁵ United States, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, 1998 Annual Report (Washington: September 14, 1998).

⁶ "March 1998 Demographics"; "May 1998 Demographics," "July 1998 Demographics," "August 1998 Demographics." Fact sheet from CHDS, 1998.

⁷ United States, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, "1999 Participant Demographics To-Date," web page <http://www3.ndu.edu/chds/alumni/1999stats.html>.

⁸ United States, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, 1998 Annual Report (Washington, 1999): 9.

⁹ United States, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, "Who We Are," web page <http://www3.ndu.edu/chds/who/index.htm#Fellows>.

¹⁰ United States, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, "2000 Participant Demographics To-Date," web page <http://www3.ndu.edu/chds/alumni/2000stats.html>.

¹¹ United States, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, "2000 Demographics," document obtained from CHDS October 2000.

¹² United States, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, "Who We Are," web page <http://www3.ndu.edu/chds/who/index.htm#Fellows>.

13 Compiled from ibid.

¹⁴ United States, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, "2002 All Events," document obtained from CHDS October 2003.

¹⁵ United States, Department of Defense, National Defense University, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, "CHDS Stats FY2002," document obtained from CHDS November 2003.