DRMI now offers four units of Naval Postgraduate School graduate education credit for our resident courses. To obtain the credit a participant must attend either the Defense Resources Management Course (DRMC), or the International Defense Management Management Course (IDMC), and then pass an exam. (more . . .)

Coming to one of our resident courses? The new Participant Handbook will answer all of your questions regarding directions, accommodations, computer support and much, much more. Click here to view it on line, or Right-Click to download your own copy.

DRMI continues work with Kazakhstan. After a very successful Defense Resources Management Workshop held in Astana in July (organized and led by Dr. LaCivita, Dr. Angelis & Dr. McNab), the Office of Military Cooperation has requested that DRMI return in November. This time the focus will be on a cost model for the Kazakhstan peacekeeping brigade. This effort will be led by Dr. Angelis and Lt Col Hladky who will meet with Kazak officials to discuss the operational concept for the peacekeeping brigade and develop a cost model to support planning and budgeting for the brigade. The visit is tentatively scheduled for the week of 3-7 November.

DRMI Assists Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq. Over the next several months, DRMI will provide support for MNSTC_I and MNF-I efforts to plan and implement Iraqi MOD and MOT capacity development programs. DRMI will be assisting various DoD And State Department elements in conducting capacity assessments and develop capacity-building action plans designed to increase Iraq knowledge and understanding of the concepts, techniques, and application of modern defense and security management practices.

Washington Consensus - Harmful, or not?

The 1990s neoliberal reforms, commonly known as the Washington Consensus, which many Latin American nations implemented, ultimately impacted U.S. national security. Given the rise of leftist regimes in Argentina and Venezuela coupled with the distancing of former allies in Brazil and Chile, we ask whether these reforms, meant to strengthen U.S national security, harmed it instead. (more . . .)

Applying SUCCESS

Ministries of Defense all face the same basic set of management challenges: accountability (tracking defense spending on inputs), efficiency (minimizing the costs of defense activities), and effectiveness (measuring capabilities/outputs/outcomes and tying budgets to performance). A key objective in shifting government’s focus from inputs (buying things) to activities and outputs (doing things) is to improve national security and promote better internal management of defense programs. (more . . .)

Decentralization and Democratic Governance

Fiscal decentralization has come to be seen by some not only as the means for improving resource allocation but as a potential engine for economic growth in developing and transitional economies. Others, however, have argued that Western-based models of expenditure assignment and democratic institutions are ill-suited for conditions in developing and transitional countries, and that decentralization may, in fact, destabilize institutions and encourage rent-seeking behavior. (more . . .)

Spreading the Word Around the Globe:

Since January, DRMI faculty teams have presented Mobile International Defense Management Courses (MIDMCs) in Sierra Leone, Colombia and Honduras. In the coming months MIDMCs are scheduled for Malaysia, Thailand, Argentina and Canada. In addition, the DRMI faculty will also be conducting capacity building seminars in Iraq, Kazakstan and Serbia. (more . . .)