With the participation of 75 students from countries throughout the Americas, the 1st of February marked the beginning of the in-person phase of the Security and Defense Policy course. The opening remarks, given by the Director Dr. Richard Downie and the Dean of Academics Dr. Luis Bitencourt, emphasized the importance of gathering such a diverse group of civilians and military officers from throughout the Americas here in Washington. The diversity of the participants’ training, education, and professional experience permits the analysis of course themes from multiple different perspectives. The three-week in-person phase of the course, held in Washington DC, comes after another three-week phase of distance learning where participants maintained an intensive relationship with the Center’s professors and other colleagues via the internet.