Two of NSA’s recent graduates, Majors Eric Hovey and Jason Hotalen, have an article “Optimize Maritime Security Cooperation” featured in the August 2020 issue of the US Naval Institute’s Proceedings. The authors open the article by noting, despite the US drawdown of its forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, the world order is neither peaceful nor stable. Rather, the US dominance of the maritime domain, post-Cold War, is increasingly challenged, particularly by Russia and China. They argue the importance of a “more structured [US] approach to maritime security cooperation.” In the article, Hovey and Hotalen explore two case studies of cooperative maritime security with the United States, that of Morocco and Senegal. In the case of Senegal, maritime security has been “inextricably linked with migration,” and there have been some challenges. The authors argue the importance of understanding the cultural and economic values of a partner nation is critical to successful maritime security cooperation. In contrast to the challenges of the Senegal case, the authors find Morocco to be a benchmark of success in maritime security cooperation, although it has not been completely trouble free. The authors advocate the relevance of cooperative maritime security to counter the growing challenges of China and Russia to the US in the maritime domain. A one-size-fits-all approach to security cooperation will not work, and one key to successful maritime-security cooperation, which is essential to continued US maritime dominance, is regional education and language skills.

Both students of a National Security Affairs Department program, Maj Hotalen graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in March 2020, and Maj Hovey graduated in June 2020. Both are Marine foreign area offices headed to Senegal and Morocco, respectively. To read the article, click here.