From November 4 to November 16, 2019, the Perry Center held its first ever Mobile Strategy and Defense Policy Course (SDPm). The course took place in Lima, Peru at the installations of the Army War College.

Dr. David Spencer speaking during the SDPm course

61 students completed the course. The student body primarily consisted of men and women from the Peruvian Army and Air Force, the Ministries of Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Civil Defense. In addition to the Peruvian students, three military officers from Colombia and Argentina currently studying at the College also attended the course. The course’s academic staff were comprised of a mix of members of the Perry Center (including Drs. David Spencer and Bill Godnick), the Peruvian Army War College and staff from Peruvian Center for National Strategic Studies.

This course was an adaptation of the Perry Center’s flagship Strategy and Defense Policy Course given in Washington, DC, to meet Peruvian needs. The course covered five subject areas: complex threats, policy writing, strategic planning, institutional reform, and defense resource management. The first topic covered the current environment in which ministries of defense have to operate. The latter four covered the essential tasks that ministries of defense perform. Each of the latter areas was covered through readings, discussion groups, conceptual presentations, case studies drawn from recent experience, and capped with a table-top exercise in which the students play that they are members of the ministry of defense staff tasked with developing solutions to a complex threats scenario of a fictional country. This course was successful thanks to the close working relationship between the Perry Center and Peruvian War College staff, as well as the full support and backing of the Peruvian Army.